Looking For Advice on buying gravers for push engraving

[Jubean]

hello all, new member here. I want to upgrade my engraving tool. I work on copper plate engraving for printmaking. at the moment i use a square push burin from E.C. Muller N.Y. #10 I sharpen by hand on a whet stone using a Crocker and when engraving i use a sandbag for turning the plate. (i know, old school but i like it that way) it gets the job done but i was wondering about upgrading to maybe a carbide graver. is that overkill? I am looking for something smoother and easier to push. not sure what kind of metal my current burin is, basically i am looking for some wisdom and advise for what kind of push graver would be an upgrade for me. thanks! any advice or knowledge much appreciated!

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[John B.]

If you change to a carbide graver you will need diamond laps/stones to sharpen.
And carbide will not necessarily cut your metal easier than will any other sharp graver.
Carbide will cut harder/tougher metal however. You don't need carbide for copper plate engraving.
A good high speed steel, cobalt or Glensteel graver will do the job and allow you to sharpen on your stones.
If you are having push problems try different face and lift angles.
And on curves remember to turn the work into the graver.
Best of luck and enjoy your push engraving.

 

[Jubean]

If you change to a carbide graver you will need diamond laps/stones to sharpen.
And carbide will not necessarily cut your metal easier than will any other sharp graver.
Carbide will cut harder/tougher metal however. You don't need carbide for copper plate engraving.
A good high speed steel, cobalt or Glensteel graver will do the job and allow you to sharpen on your stones.
If you are having push problems try different face and lift angles.
And on curves remember to turn the work into the graver.
Best of luck and enjoy your push engraving.

thanks mate! much appreciate

 

[Jubean]

If you change to a carbide graver you will need diamond laps/stones to sharpen.
And carbide will not necessarily cut your metal easier than will any other sharp graver.
Carbide will cut harder/tougher metal however. You don't need carbide for copper plate engraving.
A good high speed steel, cobalt or Glensteel graver will do the job and allow you to sharpen on your stones.
If you are having push problems try different face and lift angles.
And on curves remember to turn the work into the graver.
Best of luck and enjoy your push engraving.

back to you or anyone who is reading, what is a good recommendation for a cobalt or Glensteel graver? maybe a brand ext. I tend to pick bad items and it bites me later

 

[papart1]

off to a decent start with your pushers.......keep goin

 

[Jubean]

off to a decent start with your pushers.......keep goin

Thank u! Will do, been engraving on And off for about 2 years and just started really getting into it

 

[John B.]

Glensteel is a brand of graver sold by GRS Corp. in Kansas.
Colbalt can be any brand of graver that is made from M-2 steel.
And most brands of gravers are available in High speed steel.
Most all regular brands of good U.S. steel gravers, if sharp will cut your copper plates using push, hammer or pneumatic engraving methods.

 

[papart1]

Thank u! Will do, been engraving on And off for about 2 years and just started really getting into it

I get all.........ALL my carbide blanks from CenntenialCarbide.com

 

[Sam]

GRS, Rio Grande, Otto Frei, Gesswein, all sell high speed steel gravers in a variety of shapes. Square shape is probably what you're going to want, but you might converse with print engravers and see what they're using. If you're on FB lookup James Ehlers. He's a print engraver and professor at Emporia State University in the same town GRS is located.

 

[Jubean]

GRS, Rio Grande, Otto Frei, Gesswein, all sell high speed steel gravers in a variety of shapes. Square shape is probably what you're going to want, but you might converse with print engravers and see what they're using. If you're on FB lookup James Ehlers. He's a print engraver and professor at Emporia State University in the same town GRS is located.

will look him up, thank you!\