New Forum Member

[bluenote38]

Hi All;

I'm in my first few minutes of joining the Cafe and no experience in engraving. I stumbled on a ball vise a some tools and have happily started trying to push engrave in some soft low carbon steel. I saw a video by Sam Alfano (Admin here?) and of course as a master he was peeling off nice long curls of metal whereas me... a lot of mis-starts, skips, overruns and any other mistake a first timer could make. I have gotten a few really nice cut though So I'm here to learn. I want to learn how to find or create patterns, transfer patterns, and select, sharpen and use tools.

 

[John B.]

Welcome to the world of engraving and to the Cafe forum.Good to have you with us.
Glad you found this place. It offers a ton of information and learning.
One of the first things to learn is to keep your ball hand below the top of the vise to avoid slips and stabbings Very painful
Please use the search button for information from our landlord Mr.Sam Alfano on methods of sharpening your gravers.
This will go a long way towards cutting those nice long curls like he does.
And avoid some slips and stabbings.

 

[papart1]

welcome Mr. Bluenote38, I'm up here in the rat hole (flint), keep trying and the best thing I found is to master, or at least try to master sharpening. Rob

 

[gcleaker]

Welcome blue keep your engraver Sharp to a lot of searches practice everyday and enjoy it

 

[bluenote38]

Lol... thanks all. I see I should have added my name, it is Bill.

 

[monk]

welcome. i suggest that you get some copper to develop pushgraving skills. learning to push on steel, tho possible, is way more difficult than on copper. visit yer local scrapyard. sometimes some really good copper stock can be found there, and at prices much better than from metal suppliers. you will soon learn the joy of gliding a graver thru the stuff. it's a nice feel that one loses when using air assist. jmho