Want to engrave

[vanknife]

Good day to all,
I don’t know if I really fit in to this group yet but sure as hell I would want to be as good an engraver as the least of you, the reason for me starting like this is because I am a knife maker with a big urge to engrave and to do it as good as any of you people. Now allow me to extend my thanks and gratitude towards each and every one that has put something on this forum, I have signed up on this forum about three weeks ago and was reading every bit that I could and it strengthened my urge to engrave and I see this as a endless pit of information and lessons to follow to become a engraver.
I tried hand engraving for a very short time and enjoyed it a lot, I had the opportunity to pick my Christmas box and it was delivered a bit late a Gravermax SC with two hand pieces The magnum and the Monarch. It also came with a rotary hand piece. Unfortunately only one graver but that is not the end of the world for I have made my own hand gravers from old jeweler files.
I do have the engraving book by James B Meek and was studying it for the last couple of years every now and then.
I am posting this pictures and the reason why I practice on these Zippo lighters is that I am working in Saudi Arabia on a contract and that the Zippo’s are easier to get than off cuts of brass and they are dead cheap. ( I don’t think are the real thing )
The first photo was my first try to engrave and that was done with hand gravers that I made myself the second photo is my first try with the gravermax only to familiarize myself with the controls and everything and I must admit I am very impressed. (Maybe because I don’t know any other engraving systems.) the third photo is my latest effort.

There are a lot of questions that I need to ask and will do when the time is right.

My apologies for thr poor photo quality

Any comments are welcome.

Thanks everyone

Cheers

“VANâ€￾

 

[Tira]

Welcome Van!

It's great you found us. Be sure to put your pin in the "Googlemap ME" area to represent your country. We have another member from your area named Jacques Herbst. Small world... That's the beauty of the cafe.

 

[jacques herbst]

welkom van.it is nice to see another engraver from sa on the forum.you hit the jackpot here as far as open information sharing.there are some wander full people here hell they are all wonder full.as you probably know from reading the posts you will love it here. go and put your pin up in the map mine has been lonely for to long.

 

[John B.]

Hi Van, and welcome to the Cafe.
Your work looks good, well done.
I especially like the first one you posted with the banknote type of scroll.
I might suggest that you study and DRAW more leaf scrolls. however.
It is important to understand the ballance between the leaf placement and the background areas.
Look at some of the fine work posted by Sam and other engravers on this forum.
A book you will find helpful is Advanced Drawing of Scrolls by Ron Smith.
It is available from FEGA at www.fega.com
You might also consider ordering some castings made from original engravings.
There is a downloadable catalog at the FEGA website.
Some engravers have them for sale at a reasonable price too.
Castings are great study models and give you an insight into cutting, shading and background depth.
It sounds as if you have some fine equipment and a good start.
Look forward to seeing more of your engraving or drawings.
Best regards, John B.

 

[Mike Cirelli]

Zippos are kinda fun to practice on. Here are a couple Zippos I did. One is fine line one is western style. Maybe they'll give you some ideas maybe not. I'm sure you can get much finer examples I've not been engraving very long. You came to the right place these Guys have a wealth of talent and also the sources John mentions; go with it you can't go wrong.
Keep it up
Mike

 

[vanknife]

Thanks

Thanks for making me feel welcome on this site and thanks for the words of inspirations and rest assure I will enjoy every minute I spend on this forum. I have put my details on Google map.

My first question is what graver is to be used by a beginner engraver, as I only recieved a GRS QC 4 with the machine that I bought and would like to know what other gravers to get next as I want to do some lettering and scrolls.

Cheers
"VAN"

 

[jacques herbst]

van when you are back it south africa give me a call i will private message you my number.do you know a knife maker by the name of chris booysen he lives in your area and i am sure he would not mind you come for a visit and answer some of your questions.