Mike_Morgan
Elite Cafe Member
I'm a novice engraver...this isn't an easy craft to learn, not at all. There's a LOT to take in... The drawing aspect, Layout, design, magnification, sharpening, the tools themselves... all of it.
It can be REALLY daunting.
This translates to a LOT of time spent learning just the basics. And when the time comes to actually cut metal, it sure is much harder if you also have to do battle with your tools. This is hard enough as it is.
We don't need shiny new tools. We need high quality tools that actually work and can get the job done. When one of the experts, whom I have chosen to listen to voices their opinion, I actually listen, because after all they ARE the experts that are doing this every day.
We're lucky to have access to the experts that spend a portion of their day or week in this forum. We're lucky that they will chime-in and tell us that some knock-off Chinese machine is inferior, and is a waste of our time and money. It doesn't make sense to question them, but I can understand that it's human nature to question authority.
In my opinion, quality tools are NOT a luxury... they are a necessity. And quality doesn't always mean expensive. A properly sharpened concrete nail is a quality tool. A Chinese knock-off of a GRS machine that doesn't function well, will not be as a reliable as properly sharpened nail!
My dad used to say: "If you don't have the money to buy the right tool, where will you find the money to replace it?"
My entire engraving setup has been purchased second-hand, or home-made. From the microscope right on down to the gravers themselves. People have been generous with me as well, My engraving vise was a gift from a Knife Maker in Texas.
Another old saying about buying quality: "When you buy quality, you'll complain once... about the price. When you buy inferior products, you'll complain every time you use them."
Just my 2¢
It can be REALLY daunting.
This translates to a LOT of time spent learning just the basics. And when the time comes to actually cut metal, it sure is much harder if you also have to do battle with your tools. This is hard enough as it is.
We don't need shiny new tools. We need high quality tools that actually work and can get the job done. When one of the experts, whom I have chosen to listen to voices their opinion, I actually listen, because after all they ARE the experts that are doing this every day.
We're lucky to have access to the experts that spend a portion of their day or week in this forum. We're lucky that they will chime-in and tell us that some knock-off Chinese machine is inferior, and is a waste of our time and money. It doesn't make sense to question them, but I can understand that it's human nature to question authority.
In my opinion, quality tools are NOT a luxury... they are a necessity. And quality doesn't always mean expensive. A properly sharpened concrete nail is a quality tool. A Chinese knock-off of a GRS machine that doesn't function well, will not be as a reliable as properly sharpened nail!
My dad used to say: "If you don't have the money to buy the right tool, where will you find the money to replace it?"
My entire engraving setup has been purchased second-hand, or home-made. From the microscope right on down to the gravers themselves. People have been generous with me as well, My engraving vise was a gift from a Knife Maker in Texas.
Another old saying about buying quality: "When you buy quality, you'll complain once... about the price. When you buy inferior products, you'll complain every time you use them."
Just my 2¢