hello all

[csstone78]

like the title says, hello to everyone on the forum. I work for a mint here in Oklahoma, and am learning how to engrave dies with a Gorton p1-2 and also hand tools.

With that said, my interest in engraving is not limited to machine assisted engraving (that's my job, not my love, ), but with Hand engraving. I learned about it in college 3 years ago, and have been REALLY interested in this art, just not financially stable enough to get all the stuff I want to begin. Now that I have access to a shop, all's fair

I hope I can learn, {and MAYBE teach what I have learned over the years (I'm also an artist so have an extensive background in aesthetics, color theory, and composition)}

[SEngraver]

Hi csstone78,

Welcome to the Engraving Forum.

We all learn from each other here on the forum by,asking questions, giving advise and tips to each other.Thank you for your offer on teaching/sharing your experience with the patrons of the forum.
Your experience is admirable in my opinion.

It wont be long before questions start coming from those in a similar field.

If you wish to acquire engraving tools,check them out on this link ;

http://www.airgraver.com/Hand_Engrav...s_Overview.htm

All the best,

SE

[mrthe]

Welcome to the forum!

[csstone78]

Thanks SEnegraver and mrthe. I get most my tools from another company, but those are mostly the auxilliary stuff (diamond laps, diamond slurry, polishing stones, etc....) As far as gravers are concerned, I have been checking out blanks on steve's site, I am very interested in getting some, along with the sharpening jig. I'm thinking I will be starting from the ground up and going for palm push, as this is what I do on Acetate to make my patterns to put on the panto-graph, the concept is similar (not exact I can imagine, acetate is quite a bit softer than metal).

I am actually kind of interested in learning what advantage the airgraver has over conventional tap and hammer or palm. I watched a few of Steve's videos to get and idea, (wow, I hope I can get as good as him one day), but I haven't seen anything on tap and hammer or palm pushing...

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by csstone78

I am actually kind of interested in learning what advantage the airgraver has over conventional tap and hammer or palm.

csstone78,
It seems that new members that quickly go to air power have a much lower dropout rate versus new members that only do only push or hammer and chisel.
Could partially be that the financial commitment forces them to try harder. But the big thing is the learning curve is much faster, and can get encouraging results much faster.

Some people advance very fast. They seem to have in common: An above average talent in art, took engraving lessons, and bought an air power system.
Since you have a good art background, and work in a similar field, and have some experience with a push graver, maybe you would be an exception.

I only do push engraving, but I do not buy the argument that you should learn push engraving or hammer and chisel before going to air power.
Kevin Scott

[csstone78]

Originally Posted by Kevin

csstone78,
It seems that new members that quickly go to air power have a much lower dropout rate versus new members that only do only push or hammer and chisel.
Could partially be that the financial commitment forces them to try harder. But the big thing is the learning curve is much faster, and can get encouraging results much faster.

Some people advance very fast. They seem to have in common: An above average talent in art, took engraving lessons, and bought an air power system.
Since you have a good art background, and work in a similar field, and have some experience with a push graver, maybe you would be an exception.

I only do push engraving, but I do not buy the argument that you should learn push engraving or hammer and chisel before going to air power.
Kevin Scott

Those are valid points, and help me out alot. At the moment, the investment in an airgraver is out of the question, but at least starting from the ground up, I can collect tools I need and understand the entire process, ESPECIALLY sharpening gravers and honing a tight, disciplined technique. When I learned to do tattoos, I had to learn by MAKING my own coil machine, making needles, making coils, and even hand tap needles; all in order to realize the art as a discipline and vice versa. I figured on learning from the ground up before taking into consideration that a lot of people, especially those that have been in the field A LONG time (before airgravers) would tell me to start off with manual methods.

funny thing is that after looking at a few pictures of Steve Lindsay's patented graver points, it is VERY close to what I sharpen my acetate graver to....except I have a groove in the tip (on the top) and not the hexagon flat. I also round off the heel, since I can't vary the thicknes in my patterns (that will cause my stylus to jump=die DESTRUCTION of epic proportions, .

next week, I do plan on trying to put a heel on my hand graver and seeing if i can get sharper lines on a coin die I'm making of a tree frog.

[SEngraver]

Csstone,

There are a couple of kits at this link which include all necessary to start with and the long term;

http://www.airgraver.com/Hand_Engrav...Graver%20Tools

Palm push and hammer and chisel .



SE

[JJ Roberts]

csstone,you'll enjoy your visits to this forum,lots of talented folks with good information and very friendly.J.J.

[Inkling]

Welcome to the forums csstone78. I'm going to be starting with the push graver as well since the airgraver is beyond my budget at the moment.

Look forward to seeing your work and good luck.

[Joe PAonessa]

Welcome!

I also have a P1-2 that I use for making coin dies. I mostly use the panto for lettering and do the rest with hammer and chisel for material removal and chisels and gravers for final detailing. You will like using air assist for cutting your patterns, it's much faster and I rarely slip now. Do you strike your own pieces or do you make your dies for someone else?

Joe Paonessa

[csstone78]

Thank you all again for the welcomes

Originally Posted by Joe PAonessa

Welcome!

I also have a P1-2 that I use for making coin dies. I mostly use the panto for lettering and do the rest with hammer and chisel for material removal and chisels and gravers for final detailing. You will like using air assist for cutting your patterns, it's much faster and I rarely slip now. Do you strike your own pieces or do you make your dies for someone else?

Joe Paonessa

I am learning to use the gorton at work to do outlines and all....hand gravers/rotary tool to remove material, and hand gravers to do the sculpt. I am still mostly doing patterns right now, we have 2 other guys doing the dies themselves, and one of the guys is retiring, so I'm taking the "easy" dies when he stops. We are a full mint; doing dies, blanks, striking coins, and building the machines to dispense them.

I want to learn hand engraving, as rewarding as die engraving is, doing work in the positive will be a challenge and a whole lotta fun. Never thought about getting an airgraver for the patterns, maybe my boss will spring for it,

[Joe PAonessa]

Hmmm, APMEX?

[csstone78]

Originally Posted by Joe PAonessa

Hmmm, APMEX?

...nope