Help, please: Rank novice needs to engrave straight lines in half-hard sterling silver

Jack31415

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Aug 17, 2016
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I'm working on a silver jewelry project, my first. Design is to place an I Ching hexagram (six parallel straight lines, stacked, ~1/16" or less in width) on a piece of 16 gauge half-hard sterling silver. I rapidly discovered that the stamps I had created will not make a deep enough impression with even a strong strike.

Lines are 3/4" long, exact width is not critical.

Thinking that I would buy a hand (push) graver and do these with an improvised vise. I do have to make 20 of these.

Is anyone willing to mentor me a little w.r.t. graver type, sharpening needed, technique? I'll either blacken with liver of sulpher or flat black paint. A slightly "rough crafted" appearance is o.k.
 

Roger B

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G'day Jack,

Just a note to you and anyone else who might in future ask for help which might be hard to impart online, I would suggest including your location so that if there was someone close by a meeting could be arranged. Apart from that, have you checked out the archives for hand push information that will help you along the way?

Roger
 

Brian Marshall

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Simplest solution - anneal the metal and/or use a bigger hammer?

Are the stamps you created sharpened to a "V" or blunt/rounded? Are the stamps hardened and tempered?

Try shortening the span from 3/4" to 1/2". The longer the span the more force you need.


Brian
 

Jack31415

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Aug 17, 2016
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Thanks! I'm in the suburbs north of Boston, MA

North of Boston, in the burbs. An in person meeting might really work.


G'day Jack,

Just a note to you and anyone else who might in future ask for help which might be hard to impart online, I would suggest including your location so that if there was someone close by a meeting could be arranged. Apart from that, have you checked out the archives for hand push information that will help you along the way?

Roger
 

Jack31415

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Really interesting suggestion. The stamps are blunt (ground down wood chisels). 1/6" wide. My intuition on the impact
required to impress into the silver was WAY off. One stamp is 1/16" x 3/4" square face. The second stamp is the same, with a
notch removed in the center. These produce yang ( ---------- ) and yin (----- -----) lines.

It might be a lot simpler to put a V profile on them, similar to a cold chisel and then use a bigger hammer.

good thought. stamps are wood chisels, ground with a bench grinder by hand with some attention paid to preserving hardness.
(by quenching periodically). They are undeformed now.

Is heating with a microtorch adequate to anneal the silver?

thanks, Brian.
 

Brian Marshall

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Nope, those "micro-torches" are pretty useless for any silversmithing I've ever done.

Soldering chains and tipping prongs is about all I use one for.


Brian


I do see where there are now some "rosebud" type tips now available for micro-torches. I've not used one, so I have no idea what they are capable of?
 

monk

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i got a real ignernt idea-- taking on a job for which one has little or no knowledge, is, well, looking for trouble.
i'd suggest putting the entire project on hold, and then taking some time looking thru the forum for useful(to you) information. the tips archive, and countless other posts here will surely give you useful insight. i'd think your customer would rather suffer a delay, than receiving a disaster for which you will seek money.
jmho, jm2cw good luck, i hope you learn to do push engraving.
 

monk

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Really interesting suggestion. The stamps are blunt (ground down wood chisels). 1/6" wide. My intuition on the impact
required to impress into the silver was WAY off. One stamp is 1/16" x 3/4" square face. The second stamp is the same, with a
notch removed in the center. These produce yang ( ---------- ) and yin (----- -----) lines.

It might be a lot simpler to put a V profile on them, similar to a cold chisel and then use a bigger hammer.

good thought. stamps are wood chisels, ground with a bench grinder by hand with some attention paid to preserving hardness.
(by quenching periodically). They are undeformed now.

Is heating with a microtorch adequate to anneal the silver?

thanks, Brian.

the butane-fuelled torches generally are junk. i grew weary of throwing them away. i use mapp, propane,& oxy-mapp. which i use is dependent on what i want to do. even a hand-held propane (plumbers' torch) will serve for annealing. heat till you see a red glow appear, and let it air cool. you will have a problem with oxidation.
if you learned to engrave by hand, you could do these and never need to anneal.
 

Chujybear

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your yang chisel will require thin metal and a pitch or lead backing to draw tge metal up into your chisel
punch
 

Jack31415

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Interesting new technique.... (new to me, that is).

Folks,

I'm really happy with your responses. In a side venture, I'm exploring etching with ferric nitrate (similar to making crude circuit boards). The results look good and I'm more confident in my art layout and chemistry skills than hand engraving!!

(I still have latent engraving desires, just now have respect for how much training it takes to get even novice results)>

Jack
 

monk

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Folks,

I'm really happy with your responses. In a side venture, I'm exploring etching with ferric nitrate (similar to making crude circuit boards). The results look good and I'm more confident in my art layout and chemistry skills than hand engraving!!

(I still have latent engraving desires, just now have respect for how much training it takes to get even novice results)>

Jack

if you're not seeking to do highly detailed work, surely the etch way of doing things has a much shorter learning curve. the equipment needed, at least entry level, is way less expensive. i think there's info on etching on the forum. check it out.
 

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