Guarnera
Member
Let me introduce myself. My name is Tony, I live in Lancaster, Ca. Thats in the high desert a little north east of L.A. I have a used Gravermeister, which I sent in for refurbishing and to get the higher speed kit installed. I have the 915 handpiece. I have 3 copies of James Meeks book and Ron smiths first book on scroll design, if I can find them. They are misplaced at the moment. I have a bunch of practice plates I bought from GRS. I have about 5 square gravers sharpened as per the GRS sharpening video but with no heels on 4 of them, that haven't been used yet. I just got Sams sharpening video and orders some more gravers to sharpen as he shows. A bunch of years back I bought a home study course from an engraver named Robert Maki on hammer and chisel engraving. He said the first thing to learn is to cut a straight line, so thats what I practice when I have time. Now for the dumb questions that have probably been asked many times here. I notice that on the practice plates I've seen here the surface looks sanded. Should I sand the mill surface off the practice plates before engraving, and if so, to what grit? Also, should I be trying to do only straight lines at first? I wish I could take a beginners course, but I just got the OK from my wife to take a course in making liner lock folding knives in October, so it will be a while till I can get the OK for another week away from home. By the way, I forge and make knives for a hobby now, but I've only done fixed blades till now, No folders yet. I'm glad I found this forum. There is a wealth of information here, and the tutorials are fantastic and will be great in helping one learn the art. Many thanks to all of you.