I have been drooling over the great pics of engraved knives and guns below for a while now. Some amazing work.

I was wondering what you guys are using , are they done with traditional engravers or some sort of powered system or both.

I have been searching the web for a while and have found lots of both . I am wondering which way is the best to go for the novice. where to start?? any suggestions?

Need pointing in the right direction.

Thanks
Mike

Hi Mike .. When i started to engrave back in the 70s the standard method was hammer and chisel or push engravers then came along the gravermeister and in the mid 80s i bough one .. Today i use the Steve Lindsays system .. I would suggest to a beginner engraver today not to start out with the hammer and chisel unless you have a experienced engraver teaching you.... You are better off with one of the power engraver systems .. they are all good . I do hope this is a help to you feel free to call me at any time if you have any more questions...

Welcome back, Mike.

I'll speak for myself here, but I'm sure others followed a similar path.

I started engraving using the hammer and chisel technique. Along the way, I developed skill using the palm burin. When I reached a more serious level, I obtained a gravermax. It took me about 7 months to embrace power-assist engraving. Not because of any difficulty, but because I was loath to leave the methods of working that I became comfortable with. Today, I do 90% of my engraving with the air-driven chisel. The ability to work free-style with one hand, coupled with the speed, accuracy, efficiency and quality of cut, made the transition worth it.

It's advantageous to work back and forth between the palm burin and the air chisel. Every job I do is a combination of those techniques.
I would heartily recommend any beginning engraver to learn and master the use of the palm burin, and the hammer and chisel.
The graver bits are the same, you choose whether you create the cut line by hammer, air or the smooth rotation of the engravers vise.

I agree with Ron, that learning is easier for beginners using the air engraving system, if cost of tooling isn't an issue. Either way, you'll be thankful down the road if you devote some time in learning how to control the palm burin.

Tim

Hi Mike:
I started in this wonderful world of engraving using the push gravers or palm bruin, and twenty fore years later 90% of my work is still done in this way. heck I am still using one or two of my original tools, I do own a graver max and will use it from time to time depending on the need.

Unless you have a good mentor/teacher I would recommend learning with the power tools. BUT it is my belief that all hand engravers regardless of how they learned or in what style they engrave, should at the very least have a good working knowledge and some level of competence with push gravers.JMO.

I learned the traditional way and have since switched to a gravermax. It seems that most of the new engravers are learning with air tools. They are spendy but will cut significant time off the learning curve.

Mike

All I can say is WA...La!

You have heard from four ofthe best.......

When I started engraving back in the mid-80's I too started with the hammer and chisel. I still use the hand gravers and hammer and chisel every once in a while. I find that the Gravermax and the hand pieces provided by GRS are quiet sufficient for the work I want to perform. Ron uses Steve Lindsey's air driven equipment and I understand it is a fantastic tool to work with.....I look forward to giving one a try. All this equipment is pricey ,to say the least. I don't know about the other four , but I could make a nice down payment on a Hummer for what I have invested in engraving equipment and supplies. My suggestion would be to buy a couple of books and some hand tools and see if you can make them work before you invest in the air driven equipment. Most of us started out that way and quickly gained a great understanding and appreciation of the engraving art. I remember when if first started with the hand bruin....about the only thing I engraved was the web of my hand (the other guys will understand)....I still carry the scars. It is good to know that most of the folks on this forum will help you if they can....I think I can speak for the rest of us....
All you have to do is ask.

Thanks for joining us......
Jim Small

Jim, Ron, Lee, Tim.

Well Sead.......Its always interesting to hear about how's and whys others have started.

Jim, I'm glad I'm not the only one with a few battle scars :D
although it's been a long time, about five years now "knock on wood" since I had to dislodge a graver from the bone of my left hand :eek:

Mike, definitely buy a book or two "The Art of Engraving" by James B. Meek and "Scroll theory and Design" by Ron Smith.
Both are Great but if you can only get one, buy Meeks book
you can try your hand at Engraving fairly inexpensively to see if this is what you want to pursue. It is a very rewarding trade to be involved in, and good info from great engravers is easy to come by these days, it wasn't always that way.......

I first got interested in the engraving arts back in the late 70's-early 80's. I have no mentor or anyone with a working knowledge of the art and could only find one small article from some gun magazine on how this was done. With that article and some 'home made' gravers i set out to try learning this fine arrt. BIG MISTAKE!!!!! there was a terrible ammount of frustration and failure to the point that I finally gave up on it and figured that I would never learn to engrave. Then just a very few short years ago I discovered the wealth of information available to me through the internet. Just about a year ago, my intrest in engraving was rekindled when i came accross a web page that showed some beautiful examples of engraving on firearms, knives and even on jewelery. I was hooked again and spoke with Steve Lindsay via e-mail and he refered me to GRS as i could not afford the type of equipment that Steve makes and sells. (From what I hear, the BEST on the market) I managed to get ahold of the GRS gravermate and off I went! Now,,,,,, a year later, I can tell you for sure that I believe the pnumatic engraving equipment is THE way to go.It has cut the learning curve in half (if ot less) and I am now able to produce work that sells.

Now, that being said,,,,,,, AFTER one gets some time under one's belt, some work withthe push gravers is definately to your own advantage. My work has improved even more since Darren has worked with me a bit on the ''hand/push'' engraving and I reccommend that everyone work with them to some degree.

Clyde / falconhawk

Much has been said about equipment. I would like to also stress the ABSOLUTE need to understand tool geometry and sharpening for any beginner. Whether one pushes, chases, or uses an air tool, the gravers are sharpened the same way. If not properly sharpened, extreme frustration:mad: :mad: will be the result. It is sometimes the most difficult concept for my students to grasp. Lynton McKenzie said he was a professional tool sharpener and a part time engraver.:o Not very exciting but so true. Lee R. Griffiths:D

ooooo how true your statments are Lee. The first thing a beginner engraver should learn is how to sharpen his tools ..Even the most experienced engraver cannot engrave with dull tools.. The face and the heel should be at the same angles all of the time .. Iuse a 50 degree face and a 20 degree heel . Now that is not the standard rule ..Not every body uses the same degrees. So one of the first things you should buy is a sharping hone from G R S ..

Right on, Lee!

If there's one major stumbling block in learning how to engrave, I'd say it's how to sharpen a graver. I found Meeks description confusing at first. When I saw McKenzie and Frank Hendricks demonstrate their techniques on video tape, it all made sense, and the results were amazing!
Their approach forms the foundation of the method I use today.

In addition, understanding how a graver cuts using different face and heel angles, along with being able to see what's happening at the cutting edge, shortens the learning curve considerably.

Practice and experimentation eventually gives you a "feel" for the graver, as to how satisfying the cutting is, and when it's time to restore the edge.

Tim

Thank you guys.

I have "The art of engraving" on its way here and look foreward to reading it.

I also have some info from GRS on its way, just trying to read everything I can get my paws on right now. It'll be a little while before I spring for an engraving system...

Thanks again
Mike