on a more positive note...

[mitch]

i'm coming up on 35 years since first picking up a graver and most days like to think i've gotten pretty good at it. however, largely due to the poor economy & related factors, like many i've had my share of difficulty maintaining a steady flow of work thru my vise in recent years. this situation has forced me to branch out into other areas and in many cases this has required learning new skills, techniques, & tools. one must swing where the ball is, not where one wishes it to be. as a result, i have become a better engraver, even after all this time.

in particular, i've become quite the student of various transfer techniques. the vague, blurry old laser printer & acetone trick was no longer suitable for these new applications. with a combination of thoroughly poring over threads on the Cafe and my own experimentation, i've found ways of making a metal part look like it went right thru my printer AND could withstand the wear while i'm cutting it.

i've also gone from using a 90° square for almost everything and thinking a 120° was the closest thing to Satan's trident on this earth, to now using the once-dreaded 120° for about half of my work. i had just never used it enough to overcome its inherent idiosyncrasies, but some recent commissions pretty much required it and i soon went from cursing it to singing its praises.

i'd like to thank everyone who contributes to the vast knowledge base of our art & craft, both on this website and our little world at large. i hope my own contributions have helped others.

 

[don hicks]

Mitch;
I'm sure that every response posted by members of this forum has been beneficial to somebody trying to improve their skill level, there is such a wide range of skill levels here. Many thanks to all for sharing their knowledge.
Cheers
Don

 

[highveldt]

Mitch;

I too, now like the 120 degree graver and have similar usage time. Wow, I never thought I would say that.

As to your transfer method, will you sell instructions on how to do it, as I would like to have the benefit of your research, trial and error. In fact, I believe others would also.

Steve

 

[Brian Marshall]

Congratulations. Happy "anniversary"! and all the other stuff you are supposed to say...


I never could force myself to that geometry - still stuck at 110. Have been for maybe 15 years now?

Maybe next time I do a "mass sharpening" I'll recut a half dozen or so up to 115 and see whether I can live with it.

Perhaps, if I ever work my way up to 120, I can quit using the combination 110 and flat for my all my lettering?


One of the reasons I preferred the 110 is that more than half the lettering I do is 2 to 3 mm and the 120 felt like it was just "too much".

Anyway, your post is making making me think about. You get into habits and never question them... you should.


Always taught with the 110 too, because it seemed easier on the students than the 120. May rethink that too - or at least experiment with it again.


Brian

 

[mdengraver]

Thanks for your post Mitch. I agree we all benefit from all the posts here from beginner to advanced. Everyone has something to offer and contribute to the body of knowledge and to the general discussion.

 

[celticjohn]

Mitch, I started cutting with the 120 and never really changed.
I prefer it to all my other gravers and use it 90% of the time.

 

[monk]

i'm coming up on 35 years since first picking up a graver and most days like to think i've gotten pretty good at it. however, largely due to the poor economy & related factors, like many i've had my share of difficulty maintaining a steady flow of work thru my vise in recent years. this situation has forced me to branch out into other areas and in many cases this has required learning new skills, techniques, & tools. one must swing where the ball is, not where one wishes it to be. as a result, i have become a better engraver, even after all this time.

in particular, i've become quite the student of various transfer techniques. the vague, blurry old laser printer & acetone trick was no longer suitable for these new applications. with a combination of thoroughly poring over threads on the Cafe and my own experimentation, i've found ways of making a metal part look like it went right thru my printer AND could withstand the wear while i'm cutting it.

i've also gone from using a 90° square for almost everything and thinking a 120° was the closest thing to Satan's trident on this earth, to now using the once-dreaded 120° for about half of my work. i had just never used it enough to overcome its inherent idiosyncrasies, but some recent commissions pretty much required it and i soon went from cursing it to singing its praises.

i'd like to thank everyone who contributes to the vast knowledge base of our art & craft, both on this website and our little world at large. i hope my own contributions have helped others.

most, if not all of us want the secret transfer technique you have developed. some of us are willing to pay for such info. sadly, tho, i happen to be broke at the time. i'd still like to know.

 

[Brian Marshall]

Mitch's "secret" transfer method is "free"... it costs no money - and kinda the illustrates the point of his other thread...

It's ALL right here. In the forum threads. All you gotta do is - do what he did.

i've become quite the student of various transfer techniques. the vague, blurry old laser printer & acetone trick was no longer suitable for these new applications. with a combination of thoroughly poring over threads on the Cafe and my own experimentation


If you are on this forum - you CAN read, (and if you have time to be on here, you have the time to read)

That's the "price" for "free"... and as an added benefit you'll really learn something. Just copying a formula or directions doesn't teach you much.

You may even come up with a better method than he has - by coming at the problem a different way?


Brian


TANSTAAFL

 

[mitch]

a couple things:

Brian is pretty much correct about the transfer thing. All I did was read thru the various methods on this site then experiment and tweak techniques, liquids, materials, & processes to find a way (actually ways, plural) that worked best for me. the only thing even close to a 'secret' is a transfer medium that was suggested by a nice young engraver in Europe, who asked that i not share it with the group. that was the deal and i'm sticking to it. however, i can tell you that while it did work extremely well, it was a PITA to apply and even worse to remove, so i'll only ever use it as a last resort when nothing else will work.

my favorite is a variation on a technique Ryan O'Shea posted about 6 months ago, (http://www.engraverscafe.com/showth...od-using-a-Laser-Printer.&p=169167#post169167) but does not appear to have made it into the Tips Archive. we can discuss my minor tweaks to his process in another thread, if you're interested.

as for my new found affection for 120 gravers, i just kept telling myself that if a palsied, half-blind hack like Sam Alfano could turn out marginally passable work with the dang thing then someone of vastly superior talent, such as myself, could certainly master it as well...

 

[highveldt]

Mitch, Brian et al;

Some how I missed the referenced video and method of transfer using Damar that was posted earlier this year. Thank you for pointing out this post.

For the last several weeks I have been experimenting with methods to apply glue to the metal before applying the coating for drawing on the metal.

The method I have been using is T.W. White's with his fluid. I will try the video one as well.

On the other topic, If I only had a choice of one graver grind it would be the 110 degree. Since I started back in 2013 learning the fine English scroll techniques via the Marcus Hunt teaching packing, I have grown to love the 123 degree Lindsay grind for my graver using it to do all the "inside work" after I have ringed the scrolls using a 96 degree graver grind.

Now the 123 degree graver grind is my favorite go to instrument.

By-the-way I did not think it was inappropriate to offer to pay for the works of others. That is the "American" way of doing things of my generation who became of age in the post WWII era of the 50's that I became of age. I can read good as well although my English grammar is a bit short of good.

Steve

 

[sam]

How do you transfer stuff? Like if I have a design and want to put it on something? Please reply by email because I don't check the forums very often.

 

[Bob A]

How do you transfer stuff? Like if I have a design and want to put it on something? Please reply by email because I don't check the forums very often.

hahahahaha That's some funny stuff.... All humor is based on some form of truth... Except I think you missed the "so I can sell it" part!