magnification question

[spank7357]

Chris, I have an engineer buddy who investigated making rifle scopes. Basicly what he found out was that the cost of high quality lens pretty much made it unfeasible. It is more cost effective to buy them. This correlation between scopes seems very similar in required optics. Just a thought. On the matter of getting equipment, I have been acquiring mostly used equipment for just over a year now and have the meiji, stand, magna-block, gravermach and so on. I generally try to buy at 50 to 70% of retail cost. Be patient, watch THE CAFE regularly, and it will come. Training videos are immensly helpfull and do come up for sale as well. Much info comes across THE CAFE constantly and you can view the archives for tips. Buy my "big three" recommended books (Art of Engraving by Meeks, Advanced Drawing of Scrolls by Ron Smith, Drawing and Understanding Scroll Design by Smith). And lastly, enroll in FEGA if for nothing else than the quarterly magazine but not to overlook their training aids as well. This is a plan that has helped me "wade into the water slowly" while I decided if : 1) I could actually do this kind of work, and 2) I would be willing to spend the money necessary. Both affirmative and the next for me is to attend professional classes. Hope this helps!
Good luck. Fellow newbie, Dave "Spank" Spanski

 

[builderofstuff]

I think the comparison of trying to make a custom scope and stacking two binoculars might be one of those apples and oranges things, but I definitely understand the logic of you concern. I don't really have a desire to accumulate more equipment in the sense of buying commercially produced equipment, I really enjoy making my own tools and since this will never be more than a hobby for me, done solely for the enjoyment I get from it, I'm really not concerned with having a pro-level setup for doing engraving. I'm very happy with the hammer and chisel method, I'm still keeping my system 3 equipment as it might make doing something like stippling more efficient but I've done some stippling with the hammer and chisel and I don't really find it all that bad to do that way.

 

[Roger Bleile]

Chris,

There are many fine engravers on this forum who use microscopes while engraving and do beautiful work, however a microscope is far from a necessity. Engraving is an ancient craft and until about 30 years ago no decorative engraver used a microscope as part of their work. As you learn this craft (or art as the case may be) you will read of revered engravers named Nimschke, Kornbrath, Greibel, Hendricks, Kell, Ulrich and Young et al whose work is highly prized today. None of these men used a microscope in their lifetime.

Some form of magnification is definately useful. Today most engravers who are not wedded to the microscope use the optivisor. You may think that the optivisor is not very powerful but in fact it is fine for most all work. Unless you are doing the type of scrollwork that has 20 shading lines in a 1 mm leaf you will be fine with a #3 or #5 optivisor. I use a #5 or #10 depending on the degree of fine detail I need. And yes I do have a microscope but because I was not initiallly trained with it I use it only ocassionally.

I want to say that nothing I've written here is ment to denigrate anyone who uses a microscope as some who do are better engravers than I am but there are also engravers (especially in the UK and Europe) who are better than me who have never looked through a microscope.

My opinion is that if you wait until you can either afford a scope or build one you will be missing out on the engraving experience that can be easily done with a less sophisticated form of magnification.

To illustrate my point the following pictures are all of engraving done many years ago by engravers in the pre-microscope days. While the pictured work may lack the highly refined and ultra sophisticated look of some of today's top engravers, it is yet very visually pleasing and is of a quality for a beginner to aspire to.

CRB

 

[KCSteve]

I'll add in that those engravers that Roger mentioned - including many of the ones doing outstanding work today - never use air-assisted tools either.

Power tools won't make you a better engraver, they just make engraving easier. Now that helps a lot in the beginning so it's pretty common for someone with only a year's experience to be better if that year was using power tools than traditional ones, but in the end it hardly matters. Phil Coggan, for example, just started using air-assist about a year ago. As beautiful as his recent work is, I don't think it surpasses what he did in the decade before, but he is faster now.

Similarily, using a microscope won't make you better, sort of.

I've found that under the scope I was able to see what was going on in certain types of cuts - shading, playing with bulino techniques, etc., that I was finally able to understand them. Now I can do the same sort of cuts with my Optivisor. The scope just made it easier for me to 'get' what was going on.

Same with modern sharpening systems - in the old days you had to learn how to properly sharpen a burin. Now if you can follow directions you can end up with a great point.

 

[PAUL LANTUCH]

For 35 years I'm using russian stereo microscopes. The last one is МБС-10, the optic is excellent, the price is better, about $200-300, depends on the seller. It is revolving, not a zoom magnification, starting from X6, next is X12 (the most needed two) and so on. Distance from object and glass is comfortable 4", circle of view at X6 is 1,6". Nothing wrong if the microscope is used, if the lenses are not scratched. The first one, I still have, was about 15 years old, it worked for me for another 25 years till separation between the glasses happened.
Any way, with modest investment it will save your eyes and definitely can improve the quality of engraving.