Knife with birds

[KurtB]

In an earlier thread, I posted a picture of a cheap stainless folder ($12) that I had been working on. It had some swallows, and some clouds, as well as some scrollwork. I didn't really show the scrolls, because I wasn't all that happy with them.

The other slab of the knife was still blank, so I had at it, and it came out a bit better, I think. It's like a light bulb came on overnight. The cuts are too shallow, something I'm doing quite a bit with the microscope. For reference, and maybe to explain the shallow cuts, I was using my Palmcontrol (stainless piston) at 30 PSI, a 120 degree carbalt, and with the stroke set where the sleeve just covers the two forward holes; I can't see them.

There are other issues with this design and execution, but I feel like I can post this without too much humiliation. This is the fourth knife. The first two were horrible and will never see the light of day. The third I gave away.

I thought it'd be more interesting to show the cutting BEFORE shading. I have the whole day off tomorrow, :D and will try to finish this off. There are a couple of leaves shaded, but that's it.







I will try to stick a couple of birds on this side as well, to balance it off at least a little, as the two sides have nothing in common. I consider this to be nothing more than a practice plate that happens to have a blade. At least I can open the mail with it. No background planned.

I was going to show the other side (with the birds) in its entirety, but chickened out. The scrolls are unbalanced, poorly designed, and have no flow.

[Tom McArdle]

Hi Kurt.

I wonder if the material itself is giving you trouble?

Some of those stainless knives are made with scales that are pretty tough. The metal itself can sometimes be the worst part of the job.Maybe you could transfer the same design to another piece of metal you know is not tough to engrave, and then cut it with the same power settings? I am guessing you will see some significant improvement. Don't hinder yourself early on with materials that are hard to cut well. That can be one of the drawbacks of using cheap knives, etc. If you find a type that does cut well, try to buy a few, for later use.

I hope you can post a photo of a practice plate of the same design. Then, maybe we could give you a better opinion of what is going on.

take care,

Tom

[KurtB]

Hi Tom, thanks for the suggestions. I think my cuts were shallow simply because I lack experience. I started the scroll backbones, and when I realized it was not deep enough, by then I had done so much that I simply kept going.

I shaded one of the two clusters this morning:


Some of the items I noticed, which I dabbed with color for easy ID...

I did a couple of leaves with the green pattern, and I was happy with how those came out. The blue leaf - just awkward. My choices were to converge the shade lines at some point, or keep them parallel. I prefer to have them converge, but couldn't pick a good point to do so. I thought about taking them to the hump in the little scroll to the right, but that would interfere with the hump's drop shadow, so I went parallel, and it looks clunky.

The main scroll bodies (red)... I'm at a loss, not sure how to do those beyond a huge set of parallel shading lines, which if not done well would look terrible. And the shading on the yellow leaf is simply sloppy.

I'd love to hear how I can improve this, both from a structural point of view, and that of shading. Thank you.

[Steve Lindsay]

Hi Kurt, I tried printing out one of the designs and drawing over it with a red pen. It is hard to see, but does this help? They are just thoughts that may help for filler and also the flow with some of the outside motifs.


For the head of the one scroll it may work to shade it with a strategy similar to this:

[KurtB]

Originally Posted by Steve Lindsay

Hi Kurt, I tried printing out one of the designs and drawing over it with a red pen. It is hard to see, but does this help?

Awesome! Thank you Steve, I appreciate your effort in printing that out and working with the outline a bit. I love the example that you've posted here. I've got a few questions on it for later if you don't mind, on just how you achieved certain effects. Unfortunately it's off to work for me, on a Saturday.

I'm going to simply keep plugging away at it. I also understand there is no quick way to get good and nothing but practice will help. I'll try reworking the outline on the other side of the knife before attempting any more shading.

Thanks again!

[KurtB]

Ok! Based upon suggestions to simply "Go for it" in terms of flair and cut depth, I drew a pattern and had at it on another cheap stainless folder. I recognize the weakness of the art; my goal with this exercise was to deepen the cuts, and work on a more effective shading. I feel like this is working better. The big overlapping leaf on the top scroll is too dominating, and there are plenty of other issues, but FWIW:



I'm having a lot of fun and hopefully am making some progress. I cut some backgrounding for the first time on two areas in the upper scroll (Thanks Steve E.) It sure is hard to not bugger the surrounding scrollwork.

[Steve Lindsay]

Kurt, That really does look very nice! Good job!

[brandvik]

Nice progress, Kurt. If memory serves, I think you and I started engraving about the same. I think your design work is respectable and your execution is looking great too. I have been cutting knives for about a month now (currently working on my sixth) and have learned a lot from the experience. IMHO you are right on track. Seeing the last photo you posted here gives me hope for my own progress. Thanks for the inspiration!

[Barry Lee Hands]

That is a very nice improvement Kurt, good work.

[Zernike Au]

Congratulations KurtB,
You improve a lot in a few days! :thumbsup:
After seeing your beautiful work, I think I need to find some cheap knife and try to learn to cut the scrolls.

Zernike