My First Commissioned Work

[Doc Mark]

This is my first "serious" knife engraving. It's also the first item (other than practice plates) that I've engraved with the Airtact. Yes, I said I would wait until Reno to decide on whether or not to go with a palm-push system, or to decide on which system I liked best. But, when a complete Airtact System came up for sale at a very reasonable price, well, I just couldn't wait. I'll have more to say about my experiences with the Airtact in a later post. Suffice it to say, that I won't part with it, and won't go back to the footpedal...period! Anyway, here are the photos I took of the new knife. As you can see, it's an oddball! It looks like a standard BUCK 110 at first glance. It even is stamped on the blade "Buck 110, made in the USA", but, it has stainless bolsters, scalloped finger ridges, and is ... yes... a SWITCHBLADE! I don't know for sure where the owner acquired it, but it is very well made, with a smooth push button action and what looks like cocobolo scales.

I worked what seemed like forever on the drawings (35) and practice plates (I cut 14 test designs!) and am still frustrated by the design that I finally decided to use. There are elements that I'm happy with and others that bother me. The actual cutting and especially the background relief leave much to be desired (especially when seen under the scope) NOW I'm finally in complete agreement with whomever posted the comment several months ago about how engraving should be judged by the naked eye only!!!! That now seems like an excellent plan to me!

Please, any constructive criticism on the design or the execution is welcome.

Thanks,

Mark

 

[Steve223]

Mark it looks great to me...I really like your shadeing and the over all design is pleaseing to the eye...My eye anyway. Thanks for showin it.

 

[pilkguns]

looks good to me, some execution that can be improved but that will come with more practice. Main thing is to keep doing it.

 

[sam]

Congratulations on your first commission!! It's a hell of a lot better than MY first commission, I'll tell you that. You handled it really well. When drawing scrolls, strive for a proportional spiral of the chambered Nautilus shell and it will help you greatly.

Now your signature is another thing. I know engravers who've been working for years that don't sign their work as crisply and neatly as you have done. Extra big applause, kudos, and congratulations on that!

 

[KCSteve]

Sorry Mark - I couldn't find anything that looked like it would look horrible under a scope.

Saw a couple of things that might look a little off under the scope - even with the nice close pictures it's hard to tell.

I'm thinking you're seeing the differences between the great work you did and the fantastic work you were striving for - those 'errors' show up huge under the scope but fortunately you're the only one who can see them.

My execution is slowly improving - on my current project I'm down to execution errors you have to look close to see (but I'm not done yet so time will tell if I can keep to this standard).

I'll bet the owner is very pleased with the results!

 

[KSnyder]

Mark, nice auto knife. I like the design I'm sure the customer will be happy.
As an aside, in most states, carrying , possession, etc , of an auto opener is trouble (as in felony or misdemeanor) if you're not a cop or active military or in some cases, firefighters.
I ain't preachin' , just be careful.
thanks for showing,
Kent

 

[Doc Mark]

Thanks for the kudos guys!

I really struggled with this knife and I am pleased in the general appearance but like I said, some of the details still bug me. One of my biggest problems with scrolls is that I can draw them correctly but when I'm cutting, I can "wander" a bit to the right or left of the transfered line on the metal. Even the thinnest line that I can transfer still looks quite wide in the scope and that little bit of wandering to either side of the line is quite noticeable and just gets compounded when I try to fix it later! I'm often "cutting blind" and can't see the actual graver point because of the large curl of metal being thrown up in front of the moving graver. I am afraid to stop and break out the curl because when I restart, I often can see an "elbow" or at least a hesitation point. I know that this too will improve with more practice but it is still frustrating.

Sam. Thanks for the encouraging word about my lettering. This was one of the places I was unhappy with. Under magnification I could really see the difference in line thickness between some of the letters (ie. the M and the F for instance) and some of the vertical lines are not quite parallel. But, on the other hand, I had to keep telling myself that the stupid things were only 1.5mm high! I'm glad that the "Master of the Micro-lettering" was pleased with my attempt. I found it easier to use my smallest flat with no heel to precut "stop cuts" at the ends of all the vertical lines and then cut the letter with a 115 degree graver. This gave me fairly clean lines but sometimes I had to go back over some of the "corners" with a small burnisher to make them look more square. I probably spent as much time with the lettering as I did cutting each bolster outline.

Anyway, thanks again. I will improve with more practice, it's just hard to get in as much practice as I would like with work and admittedly other hobby interests competing for my time. But, the time spent will be worth it.


Mark

 

[mcrapo]

Mark,

It looks great. I hope my first commisioned work come out as good as yours did.

Mike