Roger Bleile
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
I will begin with a brief recap of what this tutorial is about and how it came to be. Back in early June at Scott's Engrave-In I showed some pieces that were cut in what I usually refer to my "double bevel" style. One of the engravers indicated that it was something also called "transition style scroll" he heard about at GRS.
Next, Steve Teichman started a thread here entitled "Transition Cut Rossi" where he showed a uniquely engraved and blued revolver done in what he called "Transition style." If you go back to that thread you will also see a J.P. Sauer shotgun cut by Ron Smith and a S&W 442 I engraved.
Ron started another thread entitled "Transition Style Revisited" where he showed his version of this style on a floor plate and some practice plates. I added work that I did on a buckle; practice plate and SxS shotgun then Paul Lantuch showed us a Ruger Red Label in his version of the style. This thread generated requests for a tutorial and that is how I came to this point. There are also more examples of Ron's "Transition Style" in the thread "Piddle, Piddle, Piddle."
Let me say here that I prefer to call the style in question "double bevel" or "inside sculpted scroll." This is purely for commercial reasons. I believe patrons will relate to and desire something beveled or sculpted rather than transitional. Would you rather buy a Bowie knife or a transitional knife? How about a Pontiac Grand Prix or a Pontiac Transitional model? The name transition style, as I understand it comes from a transition between western bright cut and traditional gun scroll. That's fine for us engravers but not very commercial. Just my opinion of course.
Note: I think we have settled on the name "flare cut" to describe this style of engraving (12/08).
Now let's get to the tools. As I mentioned in one of the other threads, I cut this with a 90 degree square, sharpened with a 65 degree face and 15 degree short heel. The face is finished with a 1200 grit GRS Power Hone wheel as is the heel. I do not polish the graver on a ceramic lap. You can try a more polished face. It probably couldn't hurt but I don't have a ceramic lap. I believe others primarily use a flat to cut this. I use a square because it is easier to control. This style is not complex as there is no backgrounding or shading however it requires the engraver to have good tool control. You must be able to roll the graver in and out and gradually change angles smoothly and each cut is best made continuously without stopping and restarting.
I use an old Gravermeister with the cylindrical hand pieces. The impact is set on 600 strokes per minute. I don't see any reason that this style couldn't be done with a Graver Max, Graver Mach, Lindsay or NgraveR. Except for the NgraveR none of these tools impact as slowly as my Gravermeister but I doubt that matters much so don't rush out and buy a Gravermeister to do this (sorry GRS). It can probably be done by H&C but I have never tried it. It could probably be hand pushed in soft metals like pewter or silver.
Note: Since doing this tutorial, I have switched to a Lindsay Palm Control air impact system. I am also engraving with gravers sharpened with the Lindsay parrellel point using Lindsay templates. I find this combination does a fine job for flare cut scroll but I am still convinced that any power assisted graver will do fine. Success is in the technique not the particular tools as long as the gravers are well sharpened.
The way I do it is to draw the spirals for the scrollwork on the work surface. Normally, I don't draw anything else. I position and cut all of the inner and outer leaves by "eyeballing" them. As Ron said in another thread, an experienced engraver instinctively knows where to put them. You can draw in the leaves if that helps but don't actually draw a leaf. Just draw a curved line where the leaf goes. Here is a picture of how I start. The plate is sandblasted and colored with a blue sharpie to help contrast the cuts for this exercise.
Next, Steve Teichman started a thread here entitled "Transition Cut Rossi" where he showed a uniquely engraved and blued revolver done in what he called "Transition style." If you go back to that thread you will also see a J.P. Sauer shotgun cut by Ron Smith and a S&W 442 I engraved.
Ron started another thread entitled "Transition Style Revisited" where he showed his version of this style on a floor plate and some practice plates. I added work that I did on a buckle; practice plate and SxS shotgun then Paul Lantuch showed us a Ruger Red Label in his version of the style. This thread generated requests for a tutorial and that is how I came to this point. There are also more examples of Ron's "Transition Style" in the thread "Piddle, Piddle, Piddle."
Let me say here that I prefer to call the style in question "double bevel" or "inside sculpted scroll." This is purely for commercial reasons. I believe patrons will relate to and desire something beveled or sculpted rather than transitional. Would you rather buy a Bowie knife or a transitional knife? How about a Pontiac Grand Prix or a Pontiac Transitional model? The name transition style, as I understand it comes from a transition between western bright cut and traditional gun scroll. That's fine for us engravers but not very commercial. Just my opinion of course.
Note: I think we have settled on the name "flare cut" to describe this style of engraving (12/08).
Now let's get to the tools. As I mentioned in one of the other threads, I cut this with a 90 degree square, sharpened with a 65 degree face and 15 degree short heel. The face is finished with a 1200 grit GRS Power Hone wheel as is the heel. I do not polish the graver on a ceramic lap. You can try a more polished face. It probably couldn't hurt but I don't have a ceramic lap. I believe others primarily use a flat to cut this. I use a square because it is easier to control. This style is not complex as there is no backgrounding or shading however it requires the engraver to have good tool control. You must be able to roll the graver in and out and gradually change angles smoothly and each cut is best made continuously without stopping and restarting.
I use an old Gravermeister with the cylindrical hand pieces. The impact is set on 600 strokes per minute. I don't see any reason that this style couldn't be done with a Graver Max, Graver Mach, Lindsay or NgraveR. Except for the NgraveR none of these tools impact as slowly as my Gravermeister but I doubt that matters much so don't rush out and buy a Gravermeister to do this (sorry GRS). It can probably be done by H&C but I have never tried it. It could probably be hand pushed in soft metals like pewter or silver.
Note: Since doing this tutorial, I have switched to a Lindsay Palm Control air impact system. I am also engraving with gravers sharpened with the Lindsay parrellel point using Lindsay templates. I find this combination does a fine job for flare cut scroll but I am still convinced that any power assisted graver will do fine. Success is in the technique not the particular tools as long as the gravers are well sharpened.
The way I do it is to draw the spirals for the scrollwork on the work surface. Normally, I don't draw anything else. I position and cut all of the inner and outer leaves by "eyeballing" them. As Ron said in another thread, an experienced engraver instinctively knows where to put them. You can draw in the leaves if that helps but don't actually draw a leaf. Just draw a curved line where the leaf goes. Here is a picture of how I start. The plate is sandblasted and colored with a blue sharpie to help contrast the cuts for this exercise.
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tct 1.jpg
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