Question: New member equipment advice!

msmith1989

New Member
Joined
Apr 25, 2018
Messages
3
Location
UK
Hi everyone, I'm a brand new member and complete beginner from the UK, so I thought I would introduce myself and get a little advice!

First of all thank you for accepting me, so far the forum has been very inspirational and I've seen some incredible and inspiring engraving! I can't wait to get started :biggrin:

So I'm Max, and I want to get into instrument engraving, specifically drums. So this invovles mainly using the wriggle technique. I've got my flat edge HSS vallorbe gravers and handles, I've got my gloves ready, I just need a few more bits of advice before getting started.

As a complete beginner, I'm not finding any explicit instructions on sharpening my gravers before use. People keep mentioning 'heels' but I'm not sure what this means :( Can anyone give me a little more information on what grinder/stones I need, and how I should actually shape/sharpen my gravers before installing the handles and using them?

Any and all help will be greatly appreciated, very excited to get the rest of my gear set up and make a start!

Thanks again,
Max
 

John B.

Lifetime Pledge Member
::::Pledge Member::::
Joined
Nov 9, 2006
Messages
3,950
Location
Los Angeles area, California.
Hello Max.
For wriggle engraving with a flat graver no heel is required.
Just stone or grind the face to 45-50 degrees and have at it.
Experiment with the face angle and find out what is comfortable for you.
Some engravers use steeper or shallower face angles.
Just go with what works best for your hands.
Best of luck on your engraving journey and welcome to the Cafe.
 

msmith1989

New Member
Joined
Apr 25, 2018
Messages
3
Location
UK
Hi Bismuth, some great resources here! I will study before putting a graver anywhere near anything!
Thanks a bunch :)
 

John B.

Lifetime Pledge Member
::::Pledge Member::::
Joined
Nov 9, 2006
Messages
3,950
Location
Los Angeles area, California.
Max, most of the metal parts of the drums are nickel silver.
Sometimes also called German Silver in the UK.
Just buy some nickel silver sheet stock for practice engraving.
Good for wriggle engraving practice before working on your drum parts.
 

Southern Custom

~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Joined
Mar 8, 2013
Messages
1,026
Location
Baton Rouge
Max,
Welcome. If you are a complete beginner as mentioned I'd recommend one more tool that's even more important than the gravers and that's a simple pencil. An old rule of thumb with engraving is if you can't draw it you can't cut it. Don't forget to work on design skill as hard as the cutting skill. Best of luck and glad you found us.!
 

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