Question for Sam -- Graver roll direction

[leschowe]

I am confused as to which direction to roll the graver in a curved cut, in or
out.
In the GRS class, I think, we were told to always roll the garver to the
outside of the curve. In other words, always lean in the opposite direction that
you would lean a bicycle in a turn. I am not exactly sure that I remember what
the technical reason was for this but I think that it had something to do with
not tearing up one of the edges in the channel.
In reading Sam's tutorial entitled "Beveling Cuts", he suggests that the
graver should be rolled to the "inside of the design". This would cause the
graver to be sometimes rolled into the curve and sometimes rolled out of the
curve. I like the looks of this approach, but is there a technical issue here
for the novice that I should be aware of?
The reason that I bring this up is that in all of my practice plates I have
been VERY careful to ALWAYS role the graver to the OUTSIDE of any curve that I
was cutting, even a scroll. Now I'm thinking that I must have misunderstood
something in the class.
I would certainly appreciate it if Sam or anyone else could expand on the
pros and cons of rolling the garver in or out of the curve or the design.

Les Schowe

 

[Sam]

Les: When cutting the backbone line of a scroll, the graver can be rolled slightly to the outside of the curve.

The rule of them when cutting ornamental work such as leaves, flowers, etc (and the components inside the scroll) is to roll the graver to the inside, or as you put it, like riding a bike around a curve where you lean to the inside. This produces beveled cuts which give the design a raised appearance. Think of a piece of beveled glass or the raised panel in a cabinet door. The cuts are made so the panel becomes raised, right? You can get a similar effect by beveling cuts in ornamental engraving.

Script lettering is an exception where the brightcuts are made by leaning the graver to the outside.

There are exceptions to this, but 99% of my cuts used in leaves, stems, flowers, and arabesque designs are beveled to the inside.

Cheers / Sam

 

[Mike A]

Rolling

Les,
After 100's of thousands of cuts to the outside you should have seen me at my first western engraving class. I had to literally say to myself, "roll to the inside" while cutting. It helps to talk to yourself.

Mike
http://handengravermike.com

 

[leschowe]

Sam, thanks for your quick response, it clears up another issue for me. I had
been thinking that there was a technical reason for rolling the garver to the outside
of the turn.

Mike, I have been thinking that I will sign up for the Western Engraving Class
with GRS next year. Sounds like it will be a fun class.

Les