graver heel

I have lots of gravers from GRS. All of them are for the gravermeister that Ray Phillips set me up with.
I have never cut a heel on any of them because the sales people at GRS told me they were ready out of the package. I think my engraving is barely passable after a year.
How do I shape the gravers with a knife edge, round edge, square edge or the ones with lines. Are they truly ready out of the package.
Unfortunately, Sam A and Rex P of FEGA.,know of no one in Alabama close to Birmingham to teach.
I am new so, as they say the only dumb question is one unasked or I don't mind research, just point me. I have all the books, they don't address the gravermeister gravers from GRS.
Conan (DR Lowery MD)
ADDENDUM!!
I have the gravermeister. Bought it from Ray Phillips. Since that time I have added the grs power hone with all the wheels and the dual angle fixture. I have the grs standard block and all the attachments. I also have the grs silent aire with an Ultra 850 handpiece and all its attachments. A 915 handpiece with the quick change stuff, the emax.
I have been using the QC gravers but they don't have a heel, also do you turn them up or turn the long side down. I NEED HELP.
I have all the books in print and all the scroll sets by grs and scm.
ANY help is appreciated. I don't see how the QC gravers are ready out of the pack.
Conan

there's no such thing as a graver "ready straight out of the box". well, maybe fo some people, depending on how you hold , what you're cutting, etc, etc. i assume your gravers are short ones intended for the quick change adaptors for the grs hand pieces. do you have a powerhone. if not, you're probably well advised to get the grs powerhone and their dual angle sharpening fixture. sam alfano also has available on the fega site, a video demonstrating graver sharpening. you'll save a ton of time and a lot of grief if you buy that video. if you want a great book that tells all the disciplines you need to know, the book by james b. meek, " the art of engraving" is the very best book on how to do it. if you're still having trouble after a year, quit watchin tv, and start hanging out on this forum. the people here will help you all you need . back to the gravers you bought-- i cant imagine these puppies being ready for anything but a proper sharpening/ reshaping/ honing/ polishing, whatever- to bring them to where they need to be to serve your needs. however these may have been shaped at the factory, they might be miles away from where they have to be for the way you want to work. whatever you do, don't give up. theres tons of people here willing to help you .

hmmm, i may have made a boo boo here. i missed the name ray phillips. i'm thinkin maybe you got hooked up with an "n-graver", maybe, instead of a gravermeister. is that possible, you made a mistake in naming the tool ? either way, gravermeister, or n-graver tool, both are reliable and long lasting. but i stand by what i said about "gravers right out of the box. right out of the box they might cut, but---- how well. no heels ?
big problems ! you gotta learn proper shaping and sharpening !

Conan,
PM me with what tools you have and leave a phone number and I may just ride over there one weekend day or a Friday and show you how to sharpen your gravers. I'm probably the closest guy of the bunch to you geographically. Tim

Hi Conan & Welcome aboard.

Could you post a bit more info please as a few things are not all that clear.

I've never heard of Gravermeister gravers

I'm not aware of any gravers sold that are pre sharpened either, apart from those boxed sets of push gravers. (I could be wrong here) Also, square gravers should fit all neumatic equipment (GRS, Lindsay, N-Graver, Foredom) Some are slightly pre-shaped but that's about all. Your more traditional onglettes, rounds, knife and flats etc may need to be shaped at the rear (tang end) to make them fit the handpiece. GRS also sell a line of traditional gravers where this is already done for you.

All gravers that I've seen need a lot more work done on them like narrowing tips, heels, etc.

Also, after using them for a year, you surley must have attempted some sort of sharpening?

So...maybe post a bit more information about exactley what gravers you have and what books you are using as a reference. The books you have must mention heels as that is an integral part of sharpening.

Tim Wells offer is a good one and well worth taking as he will set you right in no time.

Cheers
Andrew

Welcome to the Cafe, Conan. The only gravers that might be ready to use 'out of the box' would be gravers used for stonesetting, which are rarely heeled. Some of the gravers GRS sells come pre-sharpened with a 45° face, but they still need to be heeled.

Click on the TUTORIALS link above and go to the page on graver sharpening. That should give you a good start, and take advantage of Tim's offer to help! / ~Sam

If you want to learn to sharpen gravers get Sam's disk on sharpening. It will save you a lot of aggravation and you'll be sharpening like a pro in no time at all.
http://masterengraver.com/videos/#

Mike, I second that. I found Sam's dvd extremely helpful as a beginning engraver. It is easy to see how a perfectly sharpened tip can save hours of frustration. A correctly sharpened graver will help you get one major hurdle out of your way... the problem being of course that I can't blame my tools when my work stinks!

Thanks guys, I have ordered it. and I have pm'd a couple of you guys. Conan