Engraving Stainless steel ring

Diacutter

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I have discovered engraving Stainless steel is a PITA... at least for me. I started this as practice for engraving on a curved surface and working on graver control. I will say I have learned a lot in the process but would like some advice. I'm using a 120 degree cmax graver with a 45 face 15 degree heal. It feels like all I'm doing is sharpening gravers.:mad: I have increased the face to 55 degrees and it is slightly better. Any suggestions in dealing with hard engraving metals? Thanks for reading.
 

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John B.

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I'm using a 120 degree cmax graver with a 45 face 15 degree heal. It feels like all I'm doing is sharpening gravers.:mad: I have increased the face to 55 degrees and it is slightly better. Any suggestions in dealing with hard engraving metals? Thanks for reading.
Diacutter, welcome to the world of hard stainless.
You are right to increase the face to 55 or even 60 degrees.
Also try nubbing the point and putting a minute radius on the heel.
That will make a much stronger graver.
Sometimes stainless is not as hard as it is tough and rips the point off of really hard gravers.
I have often had better luck using cobalt, M42 or Glen Steel.
Your diamond pattern looks pretty neat. best of luck.
 

Diacutter

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Thank you John for taking the time to respond. I have tried glen steel and it just seemed to mash to point. I will try your recommendation about dubbing the tip and radius heal, didn't think of that. I will also order some M42 stock to try as per your suggestion. This is the first stainless item I have tried to engrave to date. Just proves I still have a lot to learn.

Dave
 

Ron Spokovich

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I made a signet ring, plain, for a friend a few years ago from the solid. I know what stainless is like. The problem is not all your fault and you just have to find the right combination of graver material and grind angles. The killer in stainless is the nickel, to a small extent, but, the chromium content is the real menace and you can't do anything about that. The higher the chromium, the higher the corrosion resistance with increased difficulty in machining/engraving. You either trade off for a more forgiving grade of stainless, or experiment with graver grinds and lubes. It can be done.
 

Diacutter

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Thank you Ron for the response and information. I have tried the radius heel and dubbed tip on the cmax graver with slightly better results. Later I then decided to try revisiting the glen steel graver. New face at 55 and heel at 20 with the help of magic tap lube. I had much better results. The main difference this time was "taking smaller bites". This design requires a very deep engraving to achieve the desired result. I believe most of my problems stem from my past approach. Now my results are much cleaner, sharper and accurate. It appears I need to add patients to the long list of things I'm learning about engraving.

Dave
 

monk

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years ago, lynton mckenzie (mhsrip), advised me to stay away from ss. now it can be done with the correct tools. being a long-time-admirer of lynton, i have always followed his advice. anytime i didn't, even tho i got the job done, to me the hassle wasn't worth the reward! ymmv
 

Diacutter

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Full disclosure....I take no credit for the design on the wedding band I posted. It was inspired by a piece Todd Daniels did for GRS "learn" project. I only adapted the design to a ring surface. I did not want my post to be mis-leading in any way. The ring posted is my first attempt at engraving 316 stainless steel.


http://www.grstools.com/featuredphotos/2013/FP49-1.html
 
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Diacutter

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I finished my practice ring yesterday and thought I would share my experience. I tried 4 different gravers and here are my findings:

1. Use some type of lube (I used magic tap)
2. increased face angle to 55 and heel to 20 with a 1200 grit finish ( the non-polished face and heel cut better and greatly improved the strength of the tool
3. Remove larger amounts slowly to avoid over working/work hardening the stainless
4. I had much better results using a m42 (lindsey graver) compaired to the c-max or glen steel This graver performed very well

5. I clearly got my best results using Tira Mitchell's HHS graver designed for stainless. In the ring posted above I was able to cut 1/3 of the wedding band without re-sharpening. It also out preformed the other gravers with a polished face and heel. I did find the cmax produced a better polished finish on the metal as long as you are extra careful of breakage. The biggest advantage I noticed with the "Tira graver" was a cleaner sharper cutting action at very deep passes with much less "ripping" of the metal.

I do not claim to be any expert. This is my first 316 stainless steel project. I pass on my findings to help others. If yours differ I would love for you to share.

Thanks
Dave
 
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Tira

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Dave - I'm glad the graver worked so well for you. The graver is Chris DeCamillis's innovation. He is the brains behind how well the graver works and he designed it for stainless applications. = )
 

Omar Haltam

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the ring looks very nice Dave, and thanks for the input i will have to try Decamillis's Graver, i will include it in my next order from Tira
thanks again
 

Roger Bleile

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Dave,

The design you engraved on that ring is called "chip carving" by wood carvers. I can hardly think of anything harder on gravers than trying to do that style on stainless steel. Thanks for posting the results of your experiments with various gravers.
 

Sam

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I think it looks great.

I would also add that I've never found what I would consider a comfortably engravable commercially made stainless steel ring. Not saying they don't exist, but I've not found one. I've seen tons of gorgeous stainless steel jewelry at trade shows that's begging for engraving, but the stuff I tested was miserably hard.
 

Diacutter

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I think it looks great.

I would also add that I've never found what I would consider a comfortably engravable commercially made stainless steel ring. Not saying they don't exist, but I've not found one. I've seen tons of gorgeous stainless steel jewelry at trade shows that's begging for engraving, but the stuff I tested was miserably hard.

Thanks Sam! I'm really glad I stuck with it to completion. It was very discouraging at first, but after finding the right graver it really went pretty smooth. I think my next practice project will include inlay and stone setting. I really like the challenge of working on a curved surface.

Dave
 

Dani Girl

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I am guessing if you're sharpening a lot, maybe your ring isn't as solidly mounted as it could be. CMAX can hold up to stainless or ti really quite well. I am polishing my faces... feels better but I have no evidence. (rank amateur's 2 cents)

I think that ring is looking amazing, love the pattern like chip carving
 

Diacutter

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I am guessing if you're sharpening a lot, maybe your ring isn't as solidly mounted as it could be. CMAX can hold up to stainless or ti really quite well. I am polishing my faces... feels better but I have no evidence. (rank amateur's 2 cents)

I think that ring is looking amazing, love the pattern like chip carving

I would agree with everything you said except the "amateur" part. You are truly talented. I very much enjoy your engravings on the cafe and impressed how quickly you continue to improve. Its a joy to watch. I love the "soft" look you achieve with your shading and scroll work.It reminds me of Sam Alfano's work.

I agree some of my tool breakage issues stem from user error, work piece moving, angle of attack, etc... I have always polished graver faces and heels in the past and felt funny about this approach, but I do feel I got better results with the HHS gravers and 1200 finish. I did use polished cmax for the final cuts. By taking deep cuts and removing large amounts steel it helped to prevent hard working the surface as much. This approach was a lot less painfull for me than carbide gravers and the breakage issues.

Again, I'm no expert these are my results at this time with my current skills and experience. My bench set up is a lot more suited for a jeweler , not so good for an engraver. I'm definitely starting to see ways to improve my approach and bench set up.

Thanks for taking time to post to this thread, and for your nice compliment on my ring project.

Dave
 

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