about to purchase sharpening system

Big_Rick · Feb 19, 2015

Hello all my name is Rick I am new to engraving. I used to work as a tattoo artist and painting custom motorcycles. I always wanted to learn how to engrave however due to the high costs involved in starting, I never could get started. A few months ago I was finally able to put a few dollars together and purchased an enset from Mrs. Tira Mitchell. She was very encouraging and after talking to her I was excited to try my hand at this beautiful art. However after my package arrived I realized that I still had to obtain a way to shape and sharpen the gravers. Tira was nice enough to include a sharpened graver, but I didn't want to start practicing yet because once that graver goes dull I had no way to sharpen. I didn't want to start, then have to stop and wait until I could save up enough to buy a sharpening system. So I put everything away in the garage and have been waiting until I have the resources to obtain a sharpening system. I'm happy to say that I finally got my money right and I am now ready to buy the power hone complete with dual angle system from grs. I was curious to know if someone could advise me if there's anything else I will need to sharpen besides what comes with the power hone complete package. Once I have everything, I'll be downloading Mr. Sam's guide to sharpening. If anyone could help me out it would be greatly appreciated, thanks - Rick

dlilazteca · Feb 20, 2015

complete setup, if you have a dual angle fixture you should be good, only issue would be the collets, never used enset collets, collets are what hold your gravers in exact postion when sharpening to help get the same angle everytime, especially if the gravers are round, not sure how the enset collets sit in the GRS dual angle fixture.

Pssst a little secret....(whisper)youll need more tools trust me, a scope for example and Extra gravers of course to name a few.

Saludos,
Carlos

GTJC460 · Feb 20, 2015

The dual angle fixture is really the only one I use. I have all the others but I prefer it because I can modify my geometry on the fly to deal with the metal I'm engraving.

Bama · Feb 20, 2015

You can do every thing with that set up for engraving. I would suggest to get Sam's video for learning to sharpen a graver, a lot of good info there. The only other sharpening device that I have is the Linday template for putting a parallel heal on. You can probably probably use the duel angle fixture to do this but the templete is quick and easy and not that expensive.

Eugene Carkoski · Feb 20, 2015

I like steve lindsay system , simple and easy, cheep look at the engravingforum.com

MrBrendan · Feb 20, 2015

I just purchased the full Powerhone with Dual Angle. I figure hell, it'll take all the guesswork out of sharpening. I can second watching Sam's sharpening video, it's great.

jerrywh · Feb 20, 2015

The only thing I have against the GRS hone is this. I wish it had a high speed for cutting down graver blanks from scratch. the slow is great for finish grinding but too slow for getting off the extra meat. Otherwise it is perfect.

Toad · Feb 20, 2015

Jerry, get a Tom White power home. It has variable speed and plenty of tork.
Todd

monk · Feb 20, 2015

like bert, i have all the "systems" commercially available. lindsays' are easiest to use, as the geometry is pre-set-- automatic. the dual angle by grs, slightly trickier to use, but easy.
the grs reigns superior in my mind, as this one device can create any geometry needed. the lindsay system, not so efficient-- as you need to buy a different template for each particular geometry you want.
if you begin experimenting with geometries, as i have, the lindsay system will have you in in the poor house in no time. i'm not a representative of any tool supplier. i just know what works best for me

Big_Rick · Feb 20, 2015

Thanks for all the feedback. I just pulled the trigger on the power hone complete with dual angle system along with Mr. Alfano ' s video. I'm hoping to cut down on the learning curve and eliminate as much guesswork as possible.

Big_Rick · Feb 20, 2015

Monk i agree. I looked at the other types of systems and to be honest it just seemed overwhelming looking at all the different types of templates. As a beginner I wouldn't even know which ones to start out with.

Otto Carter · Feb 20, 2015

A drill press (which I assume everyone has) with an arbor to hold the sharpening discs is hard to beat.

KCSteve · Feb 21, 2015

One reason to avoid the Lindsay system is if your engraving system uses collets (like the GRS does). With the Lindsay templates your face angle (and some of the other angles) depend on how far the graver sticks out the front of the holder. You either have to take your graver out of the collet to sharpen, or have such a long graver it sticks far enough out of the collet to reach.

jerrywh · Feb 21, 2015

I use so many different geometries I can't imagine using a Lindsay system. If I was a beginner and had no further ambitions I might consider it. In my opinion nothing is better than the GRS dual angle system. The Lyndsay system works good for basic engraving and it's cheap If you get to be a full time pro engraver you will most likely want more.

Lonestarr · Feb 22, 2015

Well.... let me jump in here....I own the Steve Lindsay system and from my observation and use-age it's a lot more than a basic engraving system. Most people writing in with dislike for the template system have not explored the full potential it has to offer.....A big one, that I have never seen anyone talk about is you can turn the template around backwards which takes the indexing pin out of play...You have to put a washer along side the pin so as not to harm it. Now you have the full range of all the nice curves and matching facet flats to chose from.....If you have a Lindsay graver template you can put a high polish on a graver bit in seconds it's that fast.....If you have favorite geometries you can make your own template..These are my thoughts

regards Bob

Sam · Feb 23, 2015

I don't think one system is more advanced than the other and the only thing that counts is having a sharp graver and not how you get it sharp.

Like everything else, there's a system of tradeoffs. The GRS Dual Angle is one fixture I cannot be without for my work, but I absolutely love the GRS EasyGraver fixtures which make fixed geometry gravers that are my go-to 105Â° and 120Â° tools. What I like about the GRS sharpening fixtures is that they ride on a toolpost so the length of graver is irrelevant. So with the Dual Angle and my EasyGraver fixtures I can pretty much handle any of my gravers that need sharpening. And I can dang sure sharpen completely by hand if I have to.

Brian Marshall · Feb 23, 2015

I tried sharpening a carbon steel graver by hand with India and Arkansas a coupla days ago...

Not so easy anymore. At least not after using fixtures of one kind or another and power for 25 or 30 years.

Brian

Barry Lee Hands · Feb 23, 2015

If I had to use a limited set of tools, it would be the Tom White hone with the Lindsay universal template and diamond stones, and a GRS DG3 and a 1/8 and 5/16 rod.
The rods are the best way to sharpen bellies.
If I couldn't have all those, I would settle for the DG3, a diamond stone and the 1/8 rod.
The DG3 is the best single tool ever made for professional graver sharpening, because you can sharpen the face quick.

Chujybear · Feb 23, 2015

if i were to do it all again, id do tom white

dlilazteca · Feb 25, 2015

Chujybear said:
if i were to do it all again, id do tom white

JK

Saludos,
Carlos

about to purchase sharpening system

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