Intro and first hobo nickle

jeanluc83 · Jan 7, 2015

Since this is my first post I figured that I would give a little introduction. I have done a lot of wood working and a fair amount of metal working. I'm not sure I would call my self all that skilled in either but I enjoy both. I have wanted to try engraving for some time now. The main thing that scared me away was the cost of getting tooled up. I recently came across some info on making your own gravers so I finely decided to try it out on a hobo nickel.

I'm a big fan of seeing what other people are making I figured I'd share my first tempt. It is the rebel alliance symbol from star wars. I wanted to try things out with a fairly simple design to get a feel for things. I'll be the first to admit that my first attempt isn't much. My main goal was to try things out. I think with a little more work it could certainly be better but here it is:

My tools are minimal at best. I used a couple of gravers made from concrete nails. My nickel holder is an old piece of dowel and a gob of hot glue. Considering what I'm working with I don't think the end result is too bad.

It was fun. The main lesson was to take my time and not to get greedy. Now that I have a better idea of what is involved I'll definitely keep going.

Sam · Jan 8, 2015

Hello Jeanluc and welcome to the forum. If you can do this good you will certainly do a lot better with practice and the right tools. I would advise getting some gravers and learning how to sharpen them to perfection.

Ed Westerly · Jan 8, 2015

I have heard that many of the older times engravers could engrave with a sharp nail, but I've never seen anyone try it. Well done with the tools you have. Your art deserves better tools, though, and I would encourage you to look through the forums tips and tools pages for what to get first. I look forward to watching your progress.

Oh, yeh, welcome to the forum!!!

jeanluc83 · Jan 8, 2015

Thanks for the encouragement. I figured it wasn't too bad for a first try.

Ed, I think you are being over kind calling it art but thank you.

I agree that better tools would certainly help but these actually didn't work all that bad. Of course ignorance is bliss I suppose. I sharpened these by eye. My next endeavor will be to make some sharpening templates.

I'll probably keep going with these for a little bit until I decide if I'm going to stick with it. I have a bad habit of abandoning projects after the initial excitement is gone. One purchase that I will make is an optivosor. I couldn't see many of the small imperfections until it was blown up in the photo.

I think practice will be the name of the game for a while now.

monk · Jan 10, 2015

you can make a graver out of most any hard thing. drill bits come to mind, as do old needle files. the trick is to retain enough hardness for the job at hand, while reducing brittleness. this can easily be done with a hand-held propane torch. heat treating such items is quite easy. anneal, then rough to the geometry wanted. reharden- quench- then draw the temper to where you want it. after this, do your final grinding and polishing. good to go. i'm not sure if your bits would need to be put thru all this. you could try it if your points begin to break a lot.

mrthe · Jan 11, 2015

Noce start with the tools that you have, concrete nails if sharpened properly can work, old Hobos should use them to carve his nickels ,but maybe try to find some used hand push gravers, you will not need a lot to start just a couple of flat and a square one, keep carving and show to us your progress

dlilazteca · Jan 11, 2015

is it me or does it seem like the face of the nail on the bottom is facing thr wrong way?

have you ever held a sharpened graver, meaning sharpened by someone that's familiar with what it should look like?

Saludos,
Carlos

atexascowboy2011 · Jan 11, 2015

Yeah Carlito, it's you.
I can see a very long heel on the top of the bottom graver.
Admirable first try though !

jeanluc83 · Jan 11, 2015

I'm sure my geometry is not perfect. I did do it by eye. I've done enough machining that I can estimate the required geometry well enough. I'll make up a couple of sharpening templates eventually.

The concrete nails work okay. They are already hardened and tempered so I didn't bother messing with the hardness. They have held up fairly well. I'm not sure if I would rely on them if I were engraving steel.

I decided to mess around a little more and make a proper hobo nickle. Well it's a Jefferson nickel but you get the idea. This is what I ended up with after about 2 hours of work. It has it share of flaws but I'm happy with it as a learning piece.

I have a batch of no date buffalo nickels coming my way to practice on. The addiction has started.

monk · Jan 11, 2015

well, that sure is positive progress in my mind. i think when you try steel the first time, you'll be surprised.it actually cuts very nicely. the actual angle of your grinds are less important, i think, than the consistency of the grinds. you want the same feel each time. this leads one to using a more consistent wrist hold.

JOEYS CARVED ART · Jan 11, 2015

Wow, it looks good considering the tools you have, heck the Jefferson nickel looks good for someone that is setup with correct tools. Keep at it you will get good at it, these forums are a major help with getting started. Nice work!!

jeanluc83 · Jan 15, 2015

Thanks to everyone for the encouragement.

Here is my latest. It still isn't much but I'd like to think that at least I'm moving forward. If nothing else, with each one I'm learning.

The ear is not as good as my last one but I'm starting to get a better feel for things. There are a lot of errors that are evident in the picture that I may go back and fix. I don't notice them until it is blown up. I think an optivisor will be my next addition to the tool kit.

LVVP · Jan 18, 2015

Nice work, thanks

Intro and first hobo nickle

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