Newbie Hand Push Progress Thread

[canadianwuff]

This morning, I tested the graver on an older practice plate and it barely cut. I then used my bench stones to grind down the belly, thus removing the heel. Then I put in a new heel into the graver. It now cuts way easier.



Things I've noticed: I found that I could not get the center of the circles to line up exactly with the rotational axis of the vise. This makes for some odd wobbles when the plate moves offset from the rotation axis.

In addition, when I was practicing cutting curved lines on an earlier plate, I found that I could cut curved lines that were far away from the rotation axis better when I did not try to rotate the vise, instead rotate myself around the vise.

Some of the circles above were cut with the vise stationary and me rotating around the vise. Hmm....

 

[atexascowboy2011]

A lot of the old school engravers would walk around the vise. JJ still does it with either H&C or airgraver.
Apparently you should stick with this method if that is what does you the best job.
Then practice rotating the vise from time to time.

 

[canadianwuff]

That's good to know! Thanks!

 

[Bluetickhound]

It's nice when you make adjustments to technique/graver geometry etc and see immediate improvements. I spent most of this weekend either sketching or practicing on copper plates. I think I've arrived at a grind that I can work with until I get enough experience to begin experimenting with other shapes and geometries... I'm at a stage right now where just about all I can think of is engraving... How to get better, what equipment upgrades are next (I'm looking at you, GRS low profile block!!) and hanging out here for tips and advice. I went ahead and joined FEGA this morning and am looking forward to my first magazine arriving soon.

Keep working on the basics CW, if you're like me it'll take a lot of work but eventually the tumblers will click into place and then the REAL work can start!

 

[canadianwuff]

For sure! Thanks for the encouragement!

 

[Bluetickhound]

Both my lines and circles are improving somewhat. The circles were done with 3 different gravers to see which felt best and I have definitely arrived at a favorite. 90' graver with a 25' face and a very short 17.5' heel works best in my hand at this time. I tried a 120' graver with the same face but longer heels and they didn't do nearly as well for me. I had wondered what "heel drag" was.... Now I know!

 

[canadianwuff]

Here's today's attempt! I actually switched back to my Universal 116V graver, and found it much easier to use for some reason. I'm going to sharpen a Universal 105V soon-ish to compare.

The center of the plate got really hard to cut for some reason, and I stopped.

 

[Crossbolt]

It looks like your final cut in the center became progressively deeper which would account for it becoming more difficult to cut.
Not that I'm one who should be offering advice but I find when I encounter resistance that slowing down and very carefully decreasing the angle of the cut overcomes it.
Jeremy

 

[canadianwuff]

Hi Jeremy!
You are definitely correct with your observations, slowing down and decreasing the cut angle is the way to go in such cases. However, there's something up with all the copper pieces I've got, always a small region that appears to be much harder to cut. I wonder why.

Questions:
I read that dubbing a point creates a chip that rides vertically up the face of a graver. I've tried it on my freshly-cut Universal 105V, and it works, makes it much easier to see. However, it takes a lot more effort to cut, and I can't do fine lines anymore. Is this more of me incorrectly putting in the dub, or is dubbing a technique more suitable for air assisted engraving?

Also, if I'm going to be mainly hand pushing though copper/brass/silver, is it worth it to get some carbide/carbalt graver blanks?

Thanks!

 

[Crossbolt]

With regards to hardness of the plate there's always the possibility that it's not uniform either irregularly annealed or compositionally irregular.
I thought that was the case with some steel I was working with but refinishing the surface removed almost all of the variation. I suspect most variation I still experience is somehow my own, but irregularities remain a possibility.
Jeremy

 

[John P. Anderson]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HI9j6cwI1Ts

 

[canadianwuff]

John, thanks for the link! I'm checking it out right now!

 

[Bluetickhound]

Well.... Here's the first thing I've done that my wife (harsh, HARSH critic she is!!!) said "Well, I can at least see some improvement...". I thought I'd bring it to the board here and show you also. I know I have many moons to go before I'll actually start to feel like I've done something worthy of a critique request (there's so much wrong with this scroll it's hard to know where to start...) but I'm still enjoying myself immensely.

 

[grumpyphil]

You are doing good work. Continue.

 

[canadianwuff]

Good stuff! I've no idea how long I'm gonna get there, I'm still doing really basic stuff.

 

[canadianwuff]

Still following along with the book, this time it's to cut straight and curved lines that are shaded.

The straight line practice helped alot, gained insight on how to track along a drawn line, and that surprisingly carried over when cutting the curved lines.

Next up will be cutting script ovals!

EDIT: Looking at the last photo, it looks like I'm burring the edges of the cut? Hmmm....

 

[Bluetickhound]

As shown in Sam's sharpening video, I got some diamond spray from GRS, sprayed it on some thick scrap saddle leather and stropped my gravers and it has helped considerably on the burring. Making sure my graver is inline with the cut is crucial also.

 

[canadianwuff]

Thanks Bluetickhound! I'll keep that in mind.

I was just watching the GRS DVD - Engraving Methods & Techniques with Don Glaser and he mentions that he leans it to the outside of the curve - which, from what I understand would be like a bus in a corner. I've been leaning into the curve, like a motorbike.

I gave it a try and it does seem to do a much better edge. The two lines closer are using 116V parallel point, and the three further away using the 105v.

 

[Bluetickhound]

Looks pretty good. I've been leaning in also and getting a nice bevel but the other side looks like bollocks. I need to get back to basics and quit trying to be all fancy shmancy with the scrolls...

 

[canadianwuff]

Started working on script ovals. Hand drawing ovals is definitely not my thing! Gotta have to practice a bit more on just plain paper.

I've tried the various gravers I have an noticed that the 96v is the easiest to cut the narrow lines. The 116v can get thin lines too, but it demands alot of effort to make sure the graver doesn't go deep.