Doc Mark
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Hi Sam,
First I love the new forum! I've been lurking from the beginning and have learned quite a bit already! I'm a newbie ( slightly over one year) and have never been so frustrated and entertained at the same time as when I'm engraving! I was once a commercial artist and could always count on becoming at least somewhat proficient at a new artistic technique within a few months, not with engraving! I'm getting better, but I have a long way to go before I feel comfortable cutting anything of value. So far I've stuck to cheap belt buckles, small knives and some jewelry. Now I want to learn gold inlay techniques. I've read your hints and I've got the FEGA DVD on inlay but I've still got quite a few questions. I read that you buy 18 gauge 24 k gold wire and use a draw plate to size the wire to your needs. I've never used a draw plate, do you start with the first "binding" hole and work the wire down each hole in succession, or can you "skip" down to smaller holes more quickly? How often must you anneal the gold as you are drawing it? Can you use a standard flat graver of the final desired width to cut a uniform channel for the gold wire? How deep to you cut the channel and how do you determine what size gold wire will fill the channel and not way overfill? Which brings up the next question, what is the best technique for flattening the raised portion of the gold after it has been set? Do you make your own brass punches? What would be the best punch face diameters to have on hand? Can a brass punch be made for a Gravermax or do you only use a hammer? What gauge gold sheet would you buy to start off? Sorry for the myriad of questions but that's what we new guys do, bug the pros!
One more request: if possible can technique photos tell the viewer what SIZE an engraving is? I was very frustrated once trying to mimic a shading technique I saw on another website, only to find much later, that I was trying to cut the same design less than 1/3 the size of the original! Needless to say I could not get the same number of shading lines in the alloted spaces. You were kind enough to tell us on one of your designs that it was 25mm in length, and that alone helped immensly when practicing cutting the style. By the way, out of curriosity, what was the approximate size of those great "leaf script" initials in your hint list?
Anyway, enough questions! Again, we really appreciate your commitment to engraving education in such a friendly format.
Mark Sedlak
First I love the new forum! I've been lurking from the beginning and have learned quite a bit already! I'm a newbie ( slightly over one year) and have never been so frustrated and entertained at the same time as when I'm engraving! I was once a commercial artist and could always count on becoming at least somewhat proficient at a new artistic technique within a few months, not with engraving! I'm getting better, but I have a long way to go before I feel comfortable cutting anything of value. So far I've stuck to cheap belt buckles, small knives and some jewelry. Now I want to learn gold inlay techniques. I've read your hints and I've got the FEGA DVD on inlay but I've still got quite a few questions. I read that you buy 18 gauge 24 k gold wire and use a draw plate to size the wire to your needs. I've never used a draw plate, do you start with the first "binding" hole and work the wire down each hole in succession, or can you "skip" down to smaller holes more quickly? How often must you anneal the gold as you are drawing it? Can you use a standard flat graver of the final desired width to cut a uniform channel for the gold wire? How deep to you cut the channel and how do you determine what size gold wire will fill the channel and not way overfill? Which brings up the next question, what is the best technique for flattening the raised portion of the gold after it has been set? Do you make your own brass punches? What would be the best punch face diameters to have on hand? Can a brass punch be made for a Gravermax or do you only use a hammer? What gauge gold sheet would you buy to start off? Sorry for the myriad of questions but that's what we new guys do, bug the pros!
One more request: if possible can technique photos tell the viewer what SIZE an engraving is? I was very frustrated once trying to mimic a shading technique I saw on another website, only to find much later, that I was trying to cut the same design less than 1/3 the size of the original! Needless to say I could not get the same number of shading lines in the alloted spaces. You were kind enough to tell us on one of your designs that it was 25mm in length, and that alone helped immensly when practicing cutting the style. By the way, out of curriosity, what was the approximate size of those great "leaf script" initials in your hint list?
Anyway, enough questions! Again, we really appreciate your commitment to engraving education in such a friendly format.
Mark Sedlak