Radius heel template

speeedy6 · Jul 16, 2016

I've been practicing my lettering with a flat graver. What's recommended on my video is a 40 degree face with a 10-20 degree radius heel. The quality of my cuts have been all over the place while learning. When things are going bad I suspect most everything is my problem. This template at least eliminates the inconsistent heel angle problem. I tried a shorter ramp and decided a longer sweep is what I needed and may still need an even longer sweep.
I first used a scrap piece of wood to make the shorter one. I happened to have a piece of aluminum angle and just cut to length, cut one side to the height I needed and glued on a piece of wood.
The wood serves several purposes. It serves as a stop for my template and keeps it set back so the graver doesn't run off the other side. It works great !
The standard Lindsay KNIFE and FLAT combo template used with the 1/4'' shim that comes with his NEGATIVE RELIEF template gives me a stone height of 3/4'' and about a 10-20 degree radius on the graver heel. The aluminum angle is cut at about 17/32'' high.
I don't know if it would be a benefit but I suppose you could put a radius on a V graver. Or, put a sort of step in it and have a flat between the two angles.
Hope this helps someone, it certainly reduced my list of possible problems with my lettering.

atexascowboy2011 · Jul 16, 2016

Where did you get the delrin or whatever nut ?
I could use a couple.

Mike_Morgan · Jul 16, 2016

atexascowboy2011 said:
Where did you get the delrin or whatever nut ?
I could use a couple.

This isn't delrin, but these nuts work GREAT on the Lindsay fixture, I vastly prefer it to the stock nut included with the fixture.

http://www.mcmaster.com/#92815a127/=13bd6e8

atexascowboy2011 · Jul 16, 2016

Thanks Mike, I checked out your recommendation, but the more rust resistant for my area the better.
At present I'm using 1/2" stainless wingnuts, but on the smaller templates it gets in the way.
The best fix for me would be a Delrin wing nut socket that you could tighten the nut with and then set it aside. :thumbsup:

Mike_Morgan · Jul 17, 2016

atexascowboy2011 said:
Thanks Mike, I checked out your recommendation, but the more rust resistant for my area the better.
At present I'm using 1/2" stainless wingnuts, but on the smaller templates it gets in the way.
The best fix for me would be a Delrin wing nut socket that you could tighten the nut with and then set it aside.

I have stainless ones I got from there as well

http://www.mcmaster.com/#91725a140/=13bedvk

speeedy6 · Jul 17, 2016

I got those knurled nuts (1/2''x13tpi ) off E-bay for about 3 bucks for 6 I think.

atexascowboy2011 · Jul 17, 2016

Last night after I posted I checked ebay and found the 10 piece for $3 so it was probably the same place.
Thanks for the tip on the nuts.

Mike Fennell · Jul 17, 2016

Very clever. I also get a radiused heel with the dual-angle fixture. Leave the radius thumbscrew loose, and slide the fixture up and down on the post, so that the fixture sweeps back and forth between 0 and 20 degrees to get a 20 degree radiused heel. Repat on the ceramic or cast iron disk for a highly polished heel. This little trick I learned from Mike Dubber., who is a walking Encyclopedia of engraving.

monk · Jul 18, 2016

speeedy6 said:
I've been practicing my lettering with a flat graver. What's recommended on my video is a 40 degree face with a 10-20 degree radius heel. The quality of my cuts have been all over the place while learning. When things are going bad I suspect most everything is my problem. This template at least eliminates the inconsistent heel angle problem. I tried a shorter ramp and decided a longer sweep is what I needed and may still need an even longer sweep.
I first used a scrap piece of wood to make the shorter one. I happened to have a piece of aluminum angle and just cut to length, cut one side to the height I needed and glued on a piece of wood.
The wood serves several purposes. It serves as a stop for my template and keeps it set back so the graver doesn't run off the other side. It works great !
The standard Lindsay KNIFE and FLAT combo template used with the 1/4'' shim that comes with his NEGATIVE RELIEF template gives me a stone height of 3/4'' and about a 10-20 degree radius on the graver heel. The aluminum angle is cut at about 17/32'' high.
I don't know if it would be a benefit but I suppose you could put a radius on a V graver. Or, put a sort of step in it and have a flat between the two angles.
Hope this helps someone, it certainly reduced my list of possible problems with my lettering.

like mike fenell, i did a radiused flat on the dual angler. never have used it. i guess i should try it. in your opinion, what advantage do you get using the radius ?

Sam · Jul 18, 2016

The Dual Angle sharpening fixture makes very easy work of this. If you're a GRS handpiece user the QC adapter makes it even easier with repeatable accuracy.

Monk: A 1/4mm radius heel flat makes a fantastic graver for script lettering and other things. I like a 40Â° face on mine.

speeedy6 · Jul 18, 2016

monk said:
like mike fenell, i did a radiused flat on the dual angler. never have used it. i guess i should try it. in your opinion, what advantage do you get using the radius ?

In Sam's lettering video ,he recommends a heel with a radius from 10 to 20 degrees. I'm only starting to get the hang of the lettering but, for the wide cut part of the letter, it seems to allow the graver to gradually come out of the cut resulting in a rounded look to the end of the cut. With a straight heel you would get more of a tapered finish. The rounded finish is then ready for the fine line you would cut to finish the letter. I think the radius needs to be just right. I tried one that was too short and felt it was too much like a straight heel. I might still try an even longer heel to see if that's better.
This radius heel may be only good for certain fonts. But I'm liking the smoothness the graver comes out of the cut and I may try it on other cutting too. I would like to know if other engravers use the radius heel for other things.

monk · Jul 19, 2016

thanks, sam. i used the dual angle fixture as per your advice some time ago. the good one has yet to be used. i did make a couple tiny ones for hobos. such avoided damaging the rim.

monk · Jul 19, 2016

speeedy6 said:
In Sam's lettering video ,he recommends a heel with a radius from 10 to 20 degrees. I'm only starting to get the hang of the lettering but, for the wide cut part of the letter, it seems to allow the graver to gradually come out of the cut resulting in a rounded look to the end of the cut. With a straight heel you would get more of a tapered finish. The rounded finish is then ready for the fine line you would cut to finish the letter. I think the radius needs to be just right. I tried one that was too short and felt it was too much like a straight heel. I might still try an even longer heel to see if that's better.
This radius heel may be only good for certain fonts. But I'm liking the smoothness the graver comes out of the cut and I may try it on other cutting too. I would like to know if other engravers use the radius heel for other things.

any flat i ever used on lettering had no heel. from your description, sounds like a good idea. thanks

Radius heel template

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