Engraving

[mustang_man]

Im new to the whole knife thing but i have already decided that i want to engrave my own knives. I cant afford the Air engravers so thats out of the question... What is one of the simplest ways to start to learn how to engrave, and which method is the best to start off with...

[rrrf68]

Get Meek's "The Art of Engraving" book, Lynton Mckenzie's three tape set on Begining,Intermediate and Advanced Engraving, stay to to this forum and ask lots of questions. Helpful forum friends doesn't hurt either. Fred

[Tim Adlam]

I would take a beginners engraving class first.
Sign up for a drawing course at the local tech college also.
Do some reading on engraving styles, tools and techniques.
Study the instructional videos available from the Firearms Engravers Guild.
Basic [hammer & chisel] tooling costs far less than air driven equipment.

The important thing here is that you invest in yourself first, then equipment.
It will take a commitment of time and energy on your part, but with a good foundation
you should be on a shorter path to success than many before you.

Tim

[J. Barraclough]

The previous information is good advise. You might add another book " The Basic's of Engraving" by Niel Hartliep.
Simple and good tools can be purchaced from Ngraver Company in Bozrah, CT. 860-823-1533 www.ngraver.com together with some good, free advise. Talk to Ray Phillips the owner. He has a small book for $5.00 I believe, that you will find usefull.
Having taught over 600 poeple to engrave, my advise is to start with a hammer and chisel.
You are not too far away from a great teacher, J J Roberts. You can contact him, maybe through this forum and ask him about some lessons. He is a great teacher and a very practicle person who will be able to give you a firm foundation in engraving without buying every piece of expensive equipment at first.
Welcome to the wonderful world of engraving and best wishes in your venture.

John Barraclough.

[KERRY BOGAN]

Dittos to everything previously said.
I am relativly new to engraving and the first course I took was engraving 1 & 2 on line from Montgomery Community College in Troy, NC. It is directed toward hammer and chisel which I personally think is a great starting point, and if you can't get to a class you can still get started. You will learn a lot about tool geometry, body control, design etc.. I spent about 20 weeks and at least 300 hours and learned a lot. It is also very reasonably priced, $60 per course the last I looked.
JJ Roberts is a great teacher,I spent some time with him at the Chantilly gun show last year and learned a lot in a short time. I want to go down and engrave with him this year.
I also met John Barraclough at the Reno show (John was one of the people I specifically went to meet) and he is a natural teacher. His table was set up to teach as much as it was to display his engraving. I learned a lot from him in a short time. Go to the FEGA site and you can see some of his work, it's incredible.

[mustang_man]

Which Brand of hammer and Chisel would be the best for my money?

[Ray Cover Jr]

I don't know of any "good" manufactured hammers out there. You will probably need to either make one or buy a handmade one from an actual engraver who makes hammers.

There was a guy who used to advertise in the FEGA journal who made good hammers but I can't remember who it was. someone else on here may remember better than me.

Ray

[Don Cowles]

GRS is now carrying some very nice hammers that they are having made in Germany. I have one, and it is a very nice tool.

[ksnyder]

Mustang Man,
I cut almost exclusively w/ hammer & chisel, I took the courses at MCC as well, I still sharpen by hand (gasp) sometimes i even use a protractor!
Get a good German hammer, the best you can afford. As for handles i like the Belgium style from Ngraver co. mentioned previously.
for the chisels i use 5% cobalt 1/8" tool steel blanks or 3/32" from Ngraver and shape them myself with a beltsander. The 2 tools I use the most are 90% (script) tool and a flat tool that looks like a tiny cold chisel. Learn to sharpen is of primary importance I believe all the folks on this forum will tell you.
This forum is a wealth of knowledge I doubt you can find anywhere else. Just the pictures posted can teach volumes if you study the work. hope this helps. And oh yeah, like James Meek said, "practice, practice,practice."
Kent

[gravertom]

Just started using the new GRS hammer. love it!

Wish i had one when i started.

Tom

[J. Barraclough]

To Kerry Bogan.
Thank you for the kind words Kerry. It was a great pleasure meeting you and other friends at the FEGA show in Reno. Thank you for traveling such a distance.
Next year, Andrew is planning on visiting the show from New Zealand so he will have you beaten with an even longer trip than you had.
Reno is a great way for us all to share a little information and learn from one another. That's what it's all about, just like this forum.
The plate you brought to show me is very well cut and shows a lot of thought and artistic ability. You will progress very quickly in engraving, I predict.
As soon as I can get over the case of Reno crud that I returned home with, I will add a few scratches to your plate and get it back to you.
Best wishes and thanks again for looking me up at the show, I enjoyed our little visit.

John Barraclough.