My old tools

[bitmaker]

I purchaced an old gravermister off of e-bay a year ago or so and have been using it to engrave sterling on bits and spurs. I talked to the people at GRS and they told me I need to up grade some valve to increase the strokes per min. Since my engraving has started to improve a little, I have noticed some jerkyness in my bright cuts. They don't look smooth. Is this the strokes per min. or is it the way my graves are sharpened?
Also the GRS sharpener that I have is not srait. When I try to sharpen the toe on a graver it is wider on one side than the other. Is this the Wheel or the tool holder, and can it be fixed. Thanks for the help.
Jim

 

[monk]

sharpener

not sure what you mean when you say your sharpener isn't straight. if the post is bent, it must be corrected to a true 90 degrees. if the heels aren't equal, i'd guess you're staying too long on one side, not enough on the other. your heels should be very short, not much more than.015". any more than that and you're adding xtra wear and tear on your sharpening surface. and for the engraving, a long heel is undesirable anyway.
instead of time , perhaps i should have said pressure. but both sides have to get the same exact treatment or they wont come out equal.

 

[monk]

bright cuts

i never had a problem with the gravermeister performing bright work. if the cuts ar bright looking , but just jerky, i'd say it's the # of strokes delivered to your handpiece. sometimes the fitting on my handpiece would work loose causing excessive jerk. you might need a new spring in the hand piece. i'm not sure what they'd charge for the valve job, but that might help also. i can only say the grs people know what they are doing.
the stuff they sell is made to last.

 

[bitmaker]

I ment the heel on the graver, not the toe. It is wider on one side than the other. I have tried adjusting the screw on the post but I can't seem to get it even. Thanks a lot for you're help.
Jim

 

[Marcus Hunt]

Hi Jim

Are you making sure that you are putting each side of the heel on the hone for exactly the same amount of time. Leave the power off on the hone and sweep the heel in an arc of around an inch 3 times then change to the other side and do exactly the same. Give or take a fraction of a mm they should be the same. If they're not then you may have to recalibrate your sharpening fixture as it may have been dropped.

 

[tmroper]

Hi Bitmaker,
I primarily do bright cuts for my type of work as a saddlemaker/silversmith. I don't think that your problem is the equipment. When I started engraving I had the same problem and it consisted of three things that a fellow engraver observed while watching me work.
1. the engraver must be perfectly honed for bright cutting especially on the heel if not it will have the jerky and not fluid bright cut that you are trying to achieve
2. the heel must be sharpened parallel to the edge of the bit. After briefly touching it to the wheel so as not to sharpen the heel to far back I look at the tip with my loupe and if it is not straight I then correct it by rotating it approximately how much it is off.
3. I was holding my graver while engraving with a death grip and pushing or forcing it through the work. This was solved by the suggestion of me holding my pinkie finger out while engraving. Yes it sounds foolish and awkward but it helped me to get past the problem.
I sure hope this helps

 

[hmw]

Bitmaker, something I have noticed with my older equiptment. Sometimes I would back off and look at something I just cut, and it looked like Ned and the first reader. The cuts were a little dull and a little jagged around the edges. The piston and bore in the handpiece were dirty. I cleaned it up with a Q tip and alcohol and it stopped the problem for a while. The problem was cause by contanimated air from an oil bath compressor I had borrowed. I use only an oil less compressor and have little if any problem. Clean the handpiece, it may help. Good luck

 

[TallGary]

I purchaced an old gravermister off of e-bay a year ago ...
Also the GRS sharpener that I have is not srait. When I try to sharpen the toe on a graver it is wider on one side than the other. Is this the Wheel or the tool holder, and can it be fixed. Thanks for the help.
Jim

Jim, The older (more than 2-3 years old) GRS power hones have a problem with a slight arch to the steel top of the case. You can tell if your power hone has the problem, get down in front of the hone and look at the front edge of the top. Hold a straight edge from the top left to the top right corner of the housing. If the top is bowed or arched, you will need to take special care to get accurate sharpening angles on the graver.

To get accurate sharpening of the graver, the tool post must be at right angles (90 degrees) to the top surface of the lap. As you move the post around on the top of an arched case, the angle of the tool post will vary slightly from the ideal 90 degree angle with the lap. This causes problems with repeatability of the sharpening angle and is especially noticeable when putting a heel in a flat graver.

Compensating for an arched top is done by placing the tool post on the right side of the front deck of the hone with the post toward the center of the hone and the adjusting screw closest to the right hand side. This puts the "high" side of the arch under the post leaving the adjusting screw side on the "low" side of the arch. Check the alignment with a square or equivalent (I used a rectangular block of tool steel in the picture), and adjust the screw to bring the post even with the square. Lock the screw position with the jamb nut.

The pictures show the slight arch that causes the problem, the error in the position of the tool post, and the corrected tool post angle after adjusting the base position with the screw.

You are now ready to use the hone and get repeatable cuts -- as long as you don't move the tool post base. If you do, recheck the post with the square and adjust as needed to get the post at right angles to the top of the lap.

GRS has fixed the issue with their newer power hone -- it has a very flat deck.

Good luck,
Gary

 

[bitmaker]

Thanks Gary,
That is exactly the problem. I just got a duel angle fixture and that helped a lot, but I'll set mine up with a square like that and that will fix my problems I think.

 

[jlseymour]

Sam's 120 Graver Heel

In following Sam's instructions for the 120* graver heel, I have to make adjustments on the 30* left and right heel to get them the same. One side I rotate to 35* to get the heels to match. Other than that the rest of the 120 or 90 graver looks good. My hone is alittle over 2 years and has both left and right rotation.
Any suggestions???
Thanks again Sam's
JL Seymour

 

[Mike Cirelli]

I really think the problem here is that the tools are not lined up in the tool post holder or the belly's of the gravers have not been resurfaced. Jim if you want the same surface on your flats every time the fixture for the quick change ends works great. Dual angle holder is a little tough for flats they tend to not line up in the holder the same every time. What you have to do is is put it in the quick change end and leave it in that one. Resurface the flat belly at about 5 degrees lift and 4 or 5mm back more if necessary , the face at what ever you use. Now your face and heel will be squared up.

JL you shouldn't have to do that, either your dual angle holder needs squared up by following the direction that it came with, it will square up the degree numbers. If thats not the problem make sure your graver is in the holder correctly and resurface or relieve grind the belly for what ever graver you want to make i.e. 120, 90 make sure you grind back evenly you can do this a couple ways.
1. use a permanent maker and grind an even V, or 2. put your heels on your graver large before you start at what ever angle and grind them off evenly.
Mike

 

[bitmaker]

The fixture I have now is the one for the quick change. Thanks for you're help.
Jim

 

[Mike Cirelli]

The quick change fixture for squares are not very accurate in my opinion. But if you resurface and leave it in the same holder without taking it out it'll work.

 

[jlseymour]

Mike
I have the standard graver fixture and the quick change. I only use the QC for the gravermax, and the standard for other gravers.
I will try to do the heel first and work from there.
Thanks for the help.
JL