Tips for signing your work

[Alvaro DC]

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Jun 24, 2017
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Hello all,
I am a fairly new member, actively participating a bit more on the FB page than here on the forum. I have a question though: can you share some tips for signing your work, specifically on the lettering?

Seems I always mess up this part as I am able to hand engrave roman letters in more than 5mm size, but when it comes to narrowing it down to 2 or 3mm my lines seem bulky and irregular.

I am using a 120 degree graver usually for making the main scroll / letter lines, but when it comes to the signature I dont know if I should use something like a 90 degree graver, or... maybe you can share some tips with me.

Example image from the amazing J. Ryall:
272890080_356287916498156_1375463311282589607_n.jpg

Thank you in advance.
 

Matthew Evans

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Joined
Jul 8, 2017
Messages
410
Hello all,
I am a fairly new member, actively participating a bit more on the FB page than here on the forum. I have a question though: can you share some tips for signing your work, specifically on the lettering?

Seems I always mess up this part as I am able to hand engrave roman letters in more than 5mm size, but when it comes to narrowing it down to 2 or 3mm my lines seem bulky and irregular.

I am using a 120 degree graver usually for making the main scroll / letter lines, but when it comes to the signature I dont know if I should use something like a 90 degree graver, or... maybe you can share some tips with me.

Example image from the amazing J. Ryall:
View attachment 49275

Thank you in advance.
Sam’s got a dvd on lettering you might want to invest in, it’s got exactly what you are asking about in detail.
 

[Alvaro DC]

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Joined
Jun 24, 2017
Messages
6
Sam’s got a dvd on lettering you might want to invest in, it’s got exactly what you are asking about in detail.
Hello Matthew, thank you for your reply. I bought the Lettering Techniques a while back. I remember that while being really descriptive about lettering in general for people who never tried to do so, the specific engraving process for letters in 2 mm is not there (I will re-watch later for sure)
I am somehow looking not for general knowledge about lettering styles, but tips on engraving in really small spaces. The devil is on the details :)
 

allan621

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When I do roman lettering I use a flat tool for the straight cuts and square gravers : normal script tool - I use a Lindsay 96 degree template ) for the round cuts. So for a letter like the D I would cut the straight vertical with a tool wide enough for the letter's mass. For the horizontal serif cuts a thin flat tool. The thing about flat tools is that they don't vary in the cut. So all the horizontal and vertical cuts will have the same width. Now the square tool too I use to cut the inside of the round cuts. I put the tool in the groove and bevel cut to the outside line. I use a flat tool to do the beveling but come back with a square tool to make the connection to the horizontal neater and more uniform.The triangle cuts that define the roman serifs are a little harder to explain.

And the suggestion about Sam's dvd is really the way to go. Seeing is not just believing but with Sam's DVDs, seeing is also understanding

Allan
 

[Alvaro DC]

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Joined
Jun 24, 2017
Messages
6
[...] The triangle cuts that define the roman serifs are a little harder to explain.

And the suggestion about Sam's dvd is really the way to go. Seeing is not just believing but with Sam's DVDs, seeing is also understanding

Allan
Thank you for the prompt reply Allan. I am currently re-watching the chapter about roman lettering as I write this. I get what you mean about the triangles perfectly described there.

Thank you for sharing your use on graver's geometry.
 

Big-Un

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Eden, NC
I used to sign my work around the edge of the piece but have since incorporated a hidden "monogram?" somewhere within a scroll. It is very small and my initials (WM) lend to it being able to adjust to any size within the design. Of course the customer will be shown where the signature is after delivery. If the design is such that the "monogram" cannot be used then a suitable tasteful signature will be incorporated.
 

Sam

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Covington, Louisiana
I prefer a 105 for micro lettering. I also make custom flat gravers out of knife gravers and shape the bottom to the size I need for the lettering at hand. Keep the heels very short on both the 105 and the flat. Aside from that there's not much to it that you wouldn't do with larger Roman letters. It's just more difficult as the letters get smaller.

Here are a couple of examples. The script was cut with a 105 and the Roman was cut with hammer & chisel using a 90° and a flat.
 

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SamW

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I have never claimed to be any good at lettering. I tolerate it as is needed for engraving jobs. That being said, here is how I prefer to sign my work. Like Alfano I make small flats from No. 1 knife gravers but use them for cutting line inlay channels and background cleanup. This lettering is 0.050" high ( about 1.25 mm) and cut with a standard 90 degree square graver with a 57.5 degree face and very small heel with maybe 10 or 12 degrees lift. This is the graver I do almost all of my cutting with. The portion that would be cut out with a flat I just stipple shade (stick and pick as Eric Gold calls it). Like I say, I never have been much on lettering.

Sig.jpg
 

Roger Bleile

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I used to sign my work around the edge of the piece but have since incorporated a hidden "monogram?" somewhere within a scroll. It is very small and my initials (WM) lend to it being able to adjust to any size within the design. Of course the customer will be shown where the signature is after delivery. If the design is such that the "monogram" cannot be used then a suitable tasteful signature will be incorporated.
Bill,

Hardly a day goes by that the owner of an engraved gun or knife doesn't send me a message asking who engraved their item. In many cases there is some cryptic mark or initials cut by the engraver, but the owner has no idea who did the engraving. The original owner of the piece undoubtedly knew who the engraver was but, in most cases, the original owner is deceased, or the item has been passed through several hands. If you want people in the future to know that you were the engraver of a piece, a WM hidden in the scrollwork won't work. I have been pretty lax about signing my work because it is extra work, but it is the only way that people in the future will know. This comment isn't just directed at Bill but to all of you that engrave guns or knives.
 

Big-Un

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Bill,

Hardly a day goes by that the owner of an engraved gun or knife doesn't send me a message asking who engraved their item. In many cases there is some cryptic mark or initials cut by the engraver, but the owner has no idea who did the engraving. The original owner of the piece undoubtedly knew who the engraver was but, in most cases, the original owner is deceased, or the item has been passed through several hands. If you want people in the future to know that you were the engraver of a piece, a WM hidden in the scrollwork won't work. I have been pretty lax about signing my work because it is extra work, but it is the only way that people in the future will know. This comment isn't just directed at Bill but to all of you that engrave guns or knives.
When I use the "hidden monogram" as my signature I always give the owner of the piece a diagram of the location of the signature on a certified Certificate of Authenticity.
 

Roger Bleile

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When I use the "hidden monogram" as my signature I always give the owner of the piece a diagram of the location of the signature on a certified Certificate of Authenticity.
Yes Bill, I understand but when the owner dies and his grandkids sell his collection, that paperwork will end up in the dumpster with the rest of grandad's paperwork. On numerous occasions, I have been asked to identify the work engravers who I know give out certificates with the completed job.
 

[Alvaro DC]

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Jun 24, 2017
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6
I am truly overwhelmed by the responses on this thread. I trully thank you, as you all have given me good tips -- I came and found gold after reading your comments.
 

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