Diary of a Novice

Julia.J

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Jan 3, 2014
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Location
Turku, Finland
Hello!

I'm gathering up courage to make a first post to this wonderful site; been reading through countless amount of posts and made enough notes to fill a book...all I can say is: I'm so excited!

As I'm completely new to the world of engraving, thought it would be a nice idea to start to keep some sort of diary of my own progress. I've gathered some basic tools already, but as they're quite expensive I'm buying a little at a time and drooling on those shiny parts I can't yet afford to buy :)

I've had a setup for a few days now and oh jeez that I'm struggling to even hold the graver...but it's so much fun! I'm like a kid in a candy store. Don't think I'm going to post pictures of the first plate as it's like a bomb field with sharp things to cut yourself with (note to self; it's not a good idea to sweep the plate with a finger to get rid of those metal sticks, real sharp things). Managed to do a few lines tho', which I'm quite proud of. I'll take some photos soon enough, I promise.

Well, engraving is new to me, but I've done quite a bit of drawing in the past and I'm familiar with the basic concept of getting things down on paper. I have a whole arsenal of arty equipment that I've harvested during the 10 year of experimentation and can't wait to get those to use as well.

I made a little concept drawing today of a scroll frog that I wish to engrave someday...might not be the easiest to start with: If I managed to load it, it's in the post :thumbsup: If anyone is interested I can write a little tutorial of how to use a light table and ink/pens to help with the designing part. hm?

To be continued, much likely with a whole lot of questions!

Take care,
~Julia
 

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dlilazteca

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Please do! Tutorials are always good. I wish I had your drawing skills.

Thanks for sharing and welcome.

Carlos De La O III
 

RDP

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Hi Julia, Welcome , with drawing skills like that is like Jo said, you are more than half way there, :clapping: anything you can share with us will be great, I know I am not the only one that would like a magic pencil to draw with, but every little thing helps, most of us newbies are hungry for knowledge, thanks, ;)

Richard.
 

Sam

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Great drawing and welcome to the Cafe, Julia :tiphat:
What you're doing on paper will work perfectly for engraving. I'm curious know of it you used Illustrator for part of it.

Cheers / ~Sam
 

monk

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you're more than welcome to participate here. with your skill at drawing, your lightbox ideas may help others to improve upon what they do. i hope you continue and excell in your engraving pursuit.
 

atexascowboy2011

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That is one awesome drawing!
Your treefrog would look great on the side of a domed concho, as it works its way to the top! The frog, limbs and leaves sculpted in bronze, then patina the frog and leaves varying shades of green, while leaving the limb an antiqued dark brown to simulate the wood would be a real eyecatcher! Throw in his tongue zipping out to snare his evening meal of fly and you have a real conversation piece! :thumbsup:
Oh, yeah and welcome to the Cafe!
It's always good to infuse new ideas into our hodgepodge!
Jeff
 

Julia.J

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Location
Turku, Finland
Drawing tutorial

Hey, thank you all for the warm welcome!
Newton that's one awesome frog; they always seem to have this real pleased expression- like an expression after a real good meal :)
Jeff Oh my! Better not to give any more ideas...I'm already in trouble with these new tools :shock: hehe. Thank you.

I did write this small tutorial about creating new designs; it might not work for everyone... but it's worth to experiment with. The technique is based on negative drawing; if you're unfamiliar with this type of work, there's a great article online by Mike Sibley which I highly recommend to read: http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=364891

In negative drawing you draw the negative space around the object to make it visible; in my version you draw the object itself or more like its shadow, which is why I call this the shadow method. This is effective because you'll be able to see the whole object without getting puzzled by detail or being horror stuck by a clean white paper. I created these images by using my trusty old drawing tablet and Painter 9 as to the reason of creating more clear image of the process, but it can be done with either black ink or pen followed by a light table and a pencil.

1) Start by inking away your subject; in my imagine I wanted something that had a tree, a fence and somesort of an animal (cat perhaps). If you're unsure of how the chosen subject looks like, there're plenty of reference photos scattered around the internet to choose from (just make sure it's ok to use). The trick here is to fill the entire subject with ink; our mind is the most powerful tool that we have- even when something is done by only using black and white, it's clear to see what we're looking at. You can start with something easy like an apple to get the idea.

2) Take your inkling to a light table. If you don't have one, natural light works just as well, meaning the use of a window...but it's harsh to your arms, so be careful. Place a clean paper on top of your image. Depending on the thickness of the paper you use or the shade of your ink (it can be watered down, if it shows up too heavily, or even in different color) the image underneath looks gray-ish.

3) This is where the fun part begins. The image underneath is your map, so you don't have to start with a white paper. Trace the outlines lightly with a pencil, you can easily make changes at this point. Once the outlines are done, you can either start filling in the detail or take the drawing back to your work space and add the necessary detail there.

Hope this made any sense :D I'm here to help if you have any questions.

Cya later,
Julia
 

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Sam

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Thank you for your tutorial, Juila. You're starting off with bang here in the Cafe with your 2nd post being added to the Tips Archive. Way to go!
 

Julia.J

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Turku, Finland
Oh wow, that's really great news Sam :) thank you. Glad if it's useful! I'm heading back to test the graver- along with other things; found the ordinary Blu-tack to be insanely good when trying to engrave small items on the vise- a bit of wood, stick the item into the good-for-everything blu-tack and then lock the whole thing into the vise...keeps it nice and still.
 

Julia.J

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Jan 3, 2014
Messages
50
Location
Turku, Finland
...

Having fun, but now with really dull gravers. Ah, I were a little silly to think that I could practice engraving for a couple of weeks without having anything to sharpen the gravers with- but I did learn the cutting difference between a sharp and a dull tool :biggrin: and I learned how awful it is.

Ok, so now I need a bit of your help. I've been reading about power hones (both home made and bought) and then the diamond stones and fixtures etc. The power hone by GRS is really expensive when the discs and a fixture is added and I'm getting in a panicky mode to think how long can person live with rice only as it would cut all my savings :thumbsup: but have also came to realize how important part it is, especially when my goal is to make a living out of this someday.

So the option B is to buy sharpening stones and a fixture. Can a fixture like the EasyGraver be used when sharpening by hand? I have quick change gravers.

Or is there an option C that I've missed entirely? Home built power hones...my tool making abilities are possibly a hazard to the environment and to myself...

Cheers!
~Julia
 

Terrezar

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http://www.engraverscafe.com/showthread.php?14579-My-homemade-stuff&highlight=homemade+stuff

I keep spreading this link around like wildfire, but I do think it may be able to help you.

When it comes to fixtures I recomend you buy the dual angle fixture. It is a little more expesive than the EasyGraver, but unlike the Easygraver it can be used for any kind of geometry. dont forget to buy an adapter for fitting the QC tool holders in the fixture.
http://www.grstools.com/tool-sharpening/sharpening-fixtures/003-570.html
http://www.grstools.com/tool-sharpening/sharpening-fixtures/003-706.html

If the dual angle is outside of your budget then maby you could get a Quick Change Sharpening Fixture instead.
http://www.grstools.com/tool-sharpening/sharpening-fixtures/003-580.html
 

Jörmungandr

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Terve Julia,

I use a diamond disc that I set to a pillar drill to rough out the blanks. Bought it from Lindsays webshop. If you have access to a drill press (pylväsporakone?) it is a quite cheap choice. After your rough out the blanks you can use the stones to get the angles nice and proper. It'll also save ALOT of time from just handsharpening.

//Daniel Qvarnström
 

Julia.J

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Jan 3, 2014
Messages
50
Location
Turku, Finland
Terrezar: I'm glad you're spreading that link, because otherwise I might have missed it! Really cool ideas! I'll need to look into that drill based hone. Thank you for the tips- the dual angle is another option to have for sure.

Daniel: Kiitos! Yes, I might have an access to drill press, but it would be easier to have something that's available at all times...I'm a night owl :) I really do appreciate the idea though and keep the concept of shaping the blanks with a power tool at first, then fine tuning by hand. Have to find a good middle road I guess.

-Julia
 

Terrezar

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My peasure indeed, and good to have other nocturnal northeners here ;) Keep up the posting, I do enjoy the read.
By the way, do you use air assist, or palm-push when engraing?
 

Jörmungandr

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Terrezar: I'm glad you're spreading that link, because otherwise I might have missed it! Really cool ideas! I'll need to look into that drill based hone. Thank you for the tips- the dual angle is another option to have for sure.

Daniel: Kiitos! Yes, I might have an access to drill press, but it would be easier to have something that's available at all times...I'm a night owl :) I really do appreciate the idea though and keep the concept of shaping the blanks with a power tool at first, then fine tuning by hand. Have to find a good middle road I guess.

-Julia

Ole hyvää, I agree. I will buy myself a powerhone from Tom White after I've gotten myself a bigger vice (small step at a time to improve :)), just so I can rough out blanks quickly in my home, also being able to finish them on the powerhone is just a bonus for me. I have a ten minute walk to the drill press I have access too. But still, it's not that big of a problem. It is not often now that I need it since just extending facets a bit and sharpening up the face/heels goes so quickly on the stones. So it's just when I need to do a new graver or thin down a flat I've used alot, which was quite some time ago now actually.

//DQ
 

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