Garage News: Fox progression

Lee

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I am beginning an upgrade of a Fox Sterlingworth DE. I will try to give frequent WIP photos.

I drew the design on the metal with a pencil and then scribed over the lines making corrections where needed. If you dip the lead of the pencil in oil - such as what you might use as a graver lube - it dissolves the lead just enough to leave a darker line on the metal.

The scribe needs to be polished and rounded so it leaves a burnished mark and not a scratch.

The client's request is a scroll style very similar to Gustave Young's. My apologies to Mr. Young if the final result is not to his liking. I am at risk of disturbing his RIP.

My understanding at this point is no gold or animals - a very relaxing project.
 

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monk

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what they all said ! funny how such a tiny little change like oil on a pencil point can be an improvement ! thanks, lee-- for furthering my education ! surely i look forward to seeing additions to the wip you have started here.
 

Lee

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I mentioned above the use of a polished scriber to go over the pencil lines and burnish in a permanent mark that can't be rubbed off by fingers. I have two on my bench. The first is one that is easily obtained by anyone. Go to the drawer in your kitchen or study that has 30 old ball point pens that no longer work but for some reason never got thrown out. Now you know why. They have a nicely polished ball that makes a wonderful scribe. If a little ink comes out don't worry it rubs off the metal quite easily. The only problem is sometimes you will wish the point was a bit smaller. A fine point pen helps but if you still desire something smaller you must make it yourself. The easiest and most effective way I know to make one is to put a piece of round carbide or HSS in a cordless drill, turn on your power hone or equivalent and turn the round stock with the drill while rocking it from vertical to about 45 degrees. For the smallest scribe possible first bring the round stock to a needle point and then with a very fine grit wheel do the rocking from vertical to 45 ish.

The photos show a design decision for this little Fox. The edge was wonderfully scalloped and I wanted to retain this feel. Putting a wider border along the edge creates a potential problem. #1 shows what happens if the border width is maintained and continued to a point. The curve is changed with each line that is farther from the edge and the point becomes very long moving into the center of the gun side. The dark penciled in area shows the resulting negative space when I try to place the scroll end of the banner and the scroll to the north. Things don't fit right. #2 shows a possibility with the border rounded instead of being brought to a point. Two things happen- one good, one bad. The good is that the border is not poking so far into the middle of the gun side. The bad is that the negative space and separation between the banner end and the scroll is increased and the really cool point of the scallop is lost. #3 shows my solution for this gun. I brought the banner end and scroll together. This union creates the point replicating the shape of the scallop that I wanted. I brought them closer to the edge and through shading will create the illusion that the border runs underneath the intersection of the banner and scroll.

The attached photo of the gun shows the outlines lightly cut. I do not always cut lightly on the first pass and deepen later but I did on this one to illustrate a point. With experience you will cut with confidence and accuracy (at least sometimes) but for the less experienced engraver a shallow cut provides the opportunity for correction on the next pass. You may find scroll backbones with flats and elbows after the first pass. With the second pass, cut a bit deeper and cut on the outside of a flat spot on the scroll and to the inside of an elbow. It will surprise you how much correction can be obtained using this method. Remember that if you cut on the scribed line the scroll will end up slightly smaller than what you visually saw and designed with the drawn line. When you cut, the inside of the cut defines the size of the scroll. When you draw the eye interprets the outside of the scribed line to be the edge. This means that cutting on the outside edge of the scribed line usually will give the desired result. The exception is when no background removal or treatment is being used on the engraving in which case the cut line is the same as the scribed line visually.

I suspect I will be taking a break for a couple of days and not posting. Thursday I plan on eating and Friday the grandkids think it would be really cool for grandpa to take them to the mountains to cut down a Christmas tree.

I wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving and please take the time to count your blessings and pray for those less fortunate.
 

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thughes

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Thanks Lee for that little teaching moment. I've run onto that problem and was unsure how to deal with it. It's nice to see how you, I don't know, maybe bent the normal rules a little bit and made it look right.

Todd
 

monk

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the cutting brings the design to life ! it's obvious you put great thought in developing a design. i do the opposite. i just let scroll flow out the pencil wherever it wants to go. i look at the result.i'm seldom happy with it. when re-drawn, if it looks reasonable, i'll scan the design for further inspection. i can then just scan & scale, or use as a guide for direct drawing.it's unfortunate that my work is never near the level of quality that you always show in your work.
if nothing else, you show newbies the value of pencil & paper and how that all becomes reality. thanks so much for taking time to do this. happy bird day to you & yours !
 

Lee

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Done eating.........way to much. I trust no one else had that problem. Since I often start at the bench around 5:30 a.m. I have some time before the trek to the mountains to slay a Christmas tree.

This photo shows one half of the bottom cut and the transfer of that half to the other side DSC_0039.jpg

The outline is deepened and ready for background removal DSC_0041.jpg

Background is removed ready to bead punch DSC_0042.jpg
 

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monk

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i very much like the layout and how it works in harmony with the contours of the gun. when finished, i'd think this would be more than a wip. perhaps even a nice tutorial.
 

zzcutter

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Lee, Thanks for taking the time to Photo the progression steps.
I was wondering what method you used to transfer the pattern to the other side on the bottom. Thanks ZZ
 

Lee

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zzcutter-

1- I rub a colored powder or run a colored artist's soft pastel in the engraved cuts. I often use the pastel instead powdered lamp black because it is not as messy but I have yet to find anything that shows up as well as lamp black.

2- I pull a piece of clear tape across some transfer wax with a little down pressure applied by a thumb or finger on top of the tape. The idea is to have a the film of wax on the tape. Some people use paper which works very well but I use clear tape so I can see the placement of the design.

3-Place the "waxed" tape over the design to be transferred and burnish, pressing the tape into the cuts to pick up the powder.

4-Use a finger to dob and smear a fine film of wax on the part of the gun/knife that is receiving the transfer.

5-Carefully place the tape on the metal and burnish. I use a bamboo skewer stick. Make sure the tape does not move.

6-Lift the tape off and hopefully admire your brilliance in transferring.

Tim Wells asked me an excellent question that I will answer here because I believe it may be useful to others. His question is "how do you sand/finish the gold and not damage the finish of the metal around the gold. The short answer in three words is - very, very carefully. Alas, you deserve a better answer. First consideration is whether the gun is blued or has some type of bright finish. If the gun is blued and the owner is unwilling to have it reblued I would not accept the project. IMO it is close to impossible to properly inlay gold on such a gun and not adversely affect the finish. If the gun has a bright finish such as this one did carefully inlay, trim edges to shape, and start sanding. I left this slightly raised to help protect edges and used a small diameter ceramic sanding stick. These can be shaped on a diamond wheel. Grinding a point or smaller tip on the sanding stick will really help. I also use rubberized abrasive pins that go in a micromotor or can be chucked up in a pin vise and rubbed over the gold by hand.

Have I confused anyone?

WIP photos

- the background has been relieved and beaded using a punch that is approximately a number 4. A few gaps were apparent where the punch was too big so I downsized to a 3 and filled these in as best I could without stamping over the top of another bead.

-The shading has begun and it is quite simple in keeping with the spirit of a traditional style and also the gun will be case colored which tends to cover up fine shading.

A university 2 1/2 hours to my south has an exhibit of just over 50 original Norman Rockwell paintings on temporary display. Guess where I am going on Thursday.:banana:
 

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