good old hand tools

[thughes]

Like the man said, take a class. I've had two and while I'm still an engraving nobody, I learned more in the GRS beginners class than in 2 years of scratching around on my own. Just sayin.

Todd

 

[dlilazteca]

I'm located in Laredo Texas just south of San Antonio...if anyone lives close by let me know... thanks again

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[randolfengraving]

All of this advise is good and applicable. However If you go to Steve Lindsey's web site you will find tools, diamond hones and everything you need to get started. As soon as you can!!! I mean as soon as you can!! Save the money to buy a classic hand piece from Steve with a template for sharpening his universal point. These two things took me from an frustrated beginer to a paid beginer in short order. Steve's tools cut the learing curve by a large margin. It took me a year to save the money for My first tool from Steve and if I had it to do over I would have bought sooner. I started with an Ngraver a monster of a hand piece but still better than a hammer. I don't care what the purest tell you a hammer is a skill that will take 5 times longer to learn than a hand piece any hand piece. If you want to have fun and make some money, get a classic from Steve. Under a grand to get you started. I think with the bits I bought and the foot pedal setup it was just at 1300.00 to open the door to engraving that was a blast compaired with controled frustation with a hammer and the Ngraver! Steve's M42 steel is easy to sharpen and holds it's sharpness better than anything I have tried. Although I am ordering some C-max at Tira Mitchells recommendation! For Titainitum and hard gun steel she says it the best she has found. If you look at her work you can see the quality she is getting. Resullts speak volumes !!! Oh and books are good but save your money for a hand piece and watch video's on the net and look at the tips here and at steve's site to learn. Then make some money at it and use it to buy books and better tools so you can improve your art.
Best Reguards Randy

 

[dlilazteca]

Thanks randy I bought a book for 145 give or take .. Engraving historic firearms was one recommended by forum members we'll see how it turns out

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[GTJC460]

I disagree about the artisan lindsay tool its an incredible tool for the money

Not everyone is looking to do this as a profession. A lot of folks are just looking for an avenue to persue an artistic hobby. Between the three different pistons Steve offers, the artisan has all the power range that anyone would need

I used one of them for about a year along side my grs equipment. I never had a problem with the tool.

Yes. I now have the classic, the classic palm control, and a gravermach at. In all truthfulness I find very little differencein the pperformance of all three tools. When the tools are setup properly and in good condition there is virtually no difference in the startup, acceleration and overall performance.

If I had to choose one tool only it'd be the gravermach at. It has the greatest range of power from extremely powerful to extremely light. If you are a jeweler and need the power to move larger volumes of metal like in channel or bezel setting the gravermach has all the power and then some... Same principle applies for sculpting steel.

Basically what I'm getting at is the tool doesnt make the engraver! It's the person holding it!!! There's no replacing lots of practice.

Yes I'm a tool junkie and I have a problem!

 

[randolfengraving]

The tool doesn't make the craftsmen but good tools can make becoming a good craftsmen much more enjoyable and productive. I remember starting out with a hammer and chisel and stabing myself many times in the proccess of learning. I would spare anyone I could of this expereience and the frustration of maximum effort with minimum results. The air hand piece any of the ones available will give anyone starting out on this journey an edge in the learning curve. Best reguards RJ

 

[randolfengraving]

By the way if you read carfully I did not recommend the artisan I reccomended the classic which can be upgraded later to an palm control.
Steve reccomends this over the artisan! RJ

 

[Marcus Hunt]

All of Steve's tools are great quality but if I had to choose between a Classic and an Artisan it's got to be the Classic all the way. For those extra few hundred bucks the ability to vary the stroke length make the tool incredibly versatile and you'll probably save money in the long run by not feeling the need to upgrade. But hey, if you really are strapped for cash the Artisan is very good value for money.

But you're right RJ, it's the way the engraver handles to tools that matters. It matters not whether you use Lindsay or GRS (or even En Set) equipment as either in the right hands are more than capable of producing exceptional results. It's just a case of personal preference.

 

[ClarkAndAddison]

C'mon Andrew, forget the onglette. It's totally unnecessary and very difficult to sharpen. To recommend one to a beginner engraver is like saying to a learner driver who has just passed their test "When you buy a car, make sure it has a starting handle."

Yes, onglettes do have a very specialised role, normally with stone setting, but for general engraving a square graver will do. In 35 years of engraving I can count the number of times I've used an onglette on one finger! I know a couple of engravers on the forum use them although I can't for the life of me think why. So please stop recommending them to novices as they'll find it incredibly difficult to get good results.

C'mon Andrew, forget the onglette. It's totally unnecessary and very difficult to sharpen. To recommend one to a beginner engraver is like saying to a learner driver who has just passed their test "When you buy a car, make sure it has a starting handle."

Yes, onglettes do have a very specialised role, normally with stone setting, but for general engraving a square graver will do. In 35 years of engraving I can count the number of times I've used an onglette on one finger! I know a couple of engravers on the forum use them although I can't for the life of me think why. So please stop recommending them to novices as they'll find it incredibly difficult to get good results.

The onglette was the first graver I learned to sharpen and has always been the easiest to sharpen by hand for myself personally. I suppose this obviously means that it comes down to each individual. Still today the onglette is about the only tool I sharpen by hand and I use it 100% for general engraving. I do use a 90 and 120 as well. Always interesting to see different perspectives on this topic for beginners.