sharpening help needed

I tried your advice and changed the face from 55 to 45 with 5 degree lift and a 17 1/2 heal and it works great for working on Ron Smith's practice plates, but I break the tip some when I working on the plate . I do 5 strocks on each side of the heal on the 1200. no power, and the about 25 on diamond, and then polish on paper . The tool makes a good smooth cut with a bright cut also. I have to sharpen it about 3 times per plate, before using the 55 this was not necessary . Do I need less of a heal?

Harold, lots of questions, are you using this for for primary cuts or shading cuts?
by 5 degree lift and 17.5 heel I assume you mean secondary and a primary heel?
What kind of of plate are you cutting in? How hard is it?


but beyond that, comments
doing 5 strokes on each side is a rough way to get the same length heel on each side, but you still need to eyeball to be sure that your heels meet in the middle.

yes going from 55 to 45 will make a tool face weaker and mores susceptiable to breakage.

heels basically have nothing to do with breakage and unless you are cutting deeper than the heel will allow. or your heels are misaligned causing you to cut crooked and you are fighting them trying to cut straight

Harold, the Ron Smith practice plates are very soft compared to some of the gun steel that you might have to work on. Having said that, you must adjust your points according to the metals you are working on, which is essentially what Scott was saying. If you need more strength, a wider point and a steeper rake angle will give you more strength. If you are doing very fine shading lines, that strength is not quite as critical. Try about 55 degree face angle and 110 or 120 degree width point. Another thing you can do for strength is to stand the tool perpindicular to the stone and put a very very small facet on the tip. You can also add strength by another facet on the belly of the tool after doing the belly facets. With the tool at the same lift as your belly facets, put your blade straight up on zero and take that sharp angle where the two belly facets come together, making it somewhat more or similar to a round bottom graver. Is that making any sense? Hope that helps.............
Ron S

Harold, I tried to encourage engravers to experiment with different geometries in another thread.

One of the things you have to remember is that we all hold our tools and cut slightly differently. This, when applied to what is in fact a tiny area which is sharpened, is magnified hugely when we start to cut through metal. The geometries which are taught and given by GRS, Lindsay, and Sam (amongst others) are starting points. There is no doubt that they work but there is no 'one size fits all' when it comes to engraving. I've said it before and I'll reitterate it, before the advent of the power hone and sharpening fixtures engravers would set their tools up on a whet stone and they were eyeballed by the individual. One engraver could rarely use anothers gravers; they really were that individual!

Nowadays, the sharpening fixtures have lulled us into believing that a perfectly set up graver should/will cut perfectly. This ain't necessarily so and you may have to make some adjustments to the geometries to find what works best for you. Keep a notebook of what angles you are using so that in the event of a serendipitous discovery you are able to repeat it.