Question: Which engraver system to get??? GRS, Enset or Lindsay?

metalnart

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Nov 11, 2014
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bing a newbie, I don't know what brand to get. my dream is to scroll, sculptr and jewlry.
I bet you guys or gals will enlighten me.
cheers. thankyou. wayne
 

diandwill

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One of each!!!

I use GRS and it's great.

I like the ability of Enset to do a "1" punch, really dialed down. Sometimes that would be really nice.

Sometimes I think it would be nice to have the portability of the Lindsay...take it to arts and craft shows to personalize and demonstrate.

They all are great and you can't go wrong with any of them.
 

paintedman

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Wayne I have both Grs and linsey I was new to this also , I have only been doing it about a year and a half now since i bought the linsey. Would never thought id want a Grs sytem till i went to Sam alfanos house for a class and saw the new dual system foot/hand controlled ..... ended up getting one of those as well, both have there advantages and are good tools. im using both at the bench the gravers are not interchangeable since the collet sizes are different. as the poster above stated the Linsey has portability The grs on the other hand has the ability to be palm or foot more control ability . Thou I've never even seen a enset or held one so no idea on that part there ..so as Diandwill said get one of each!
 

dlilazteca

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If your wanting it to use in jewellery 90% of the time to set stones i would get a grs system, I own a lindsay and grs only cant speak for enset

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monk

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it's all good. there is no pat answer to your question. ideally, it would be wise to try all three. remember, some of the finest work done today, is done with a little hammer and chisel. jewelry can be done quite nicely with a simple graver and a handle. i believe it's better to learn the basics, and worry about expensive toys later.
toys are nice, so are drawing skills. of the two, learning to draw well is paramount in my mind. best of luck to you.
 

Jkasal

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The Lindsay set up had palm control as well if I'm not mistaken. At any rate, I use GRS dual control, although I rarely use the palm control mostly because I haven't dedicated time to familiarizing myself with it. I love the concept of digitally controlled valves like Enset but I have never used one personally. For me, my choice in tools extends beyond the tools abilities. I need a company that offers service, answers questions, and provides guidance. I can't speak enough about GRS and how well that company performs. When I call, I ALWAYS am treated as if I was their only customer. They call me back when they say they will call me back, they always respond to my emails, and promptly ship my orders. I even toured the GRS facility and was so impressed in the equipment and machinery they have invested in, to be able to produce the highest quality product. I used to complain that GRS products were "expensive" but after seeing first hand their design, production, and quality control, I am a GRS customer for life. Not to mention, they are still family owned and operated. Hope that helps


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Mike_Morgan

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bing a newbie, I don't know what brand to get. my dream is to scroll, sculptr and jewlry.
I bet you guys or gals will enlighten me.
cheers. thankyou. wayne

When I first got into this, (less than a year ago) my goals were, and still remain, identical to yours. But I VERY quickly learned that there were milestones that had to be reached before I could even begin to entertain those goals.

Milestone number one, was that I needed to spend a lot of time with a pencil and paper, studying and learning scroll design. Simultaneously I was pushing a hand graver around getting a feel for cutting the metal. This, quite rapidly, exposed me to milestone two... learning how to sharpen a graver so it would actually cut.

GRS, Lindsay and Enset all make exceptional tools, but for centuries engravers did this job with hand pushing, hammer & chisel, or a combination of both. If you can't design or draw a scroll you're not going to have much success incising it onto metal. And you sure as heck won't have much luck if you have not learned how to sharpen your tools. These are important steps to master before even worrying about which system is best for your application.

Ebay and the classifieds section of this forum frequently will have used engraving gear available, and some of that is being sold by the guys that jumped into this before mastering the lessons I mentioned in Milestones one and two.

Many of the members of this forum told me the the same things I'm sharing with you now: The engraving journey is a long and thrilling ride, and if you take the time on the basics you'll be rewarded with an easier time on the actual execution of the harder stuff. Walk before you run... A sketch book and a pencil are your first steps... Then a hand push graver so you can work on sharpening and basic cuts... and by the time you're ready for a powered system, you'll have a really good Idea about which system is best for you... it just happens.
 

Brian Marshall

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Ummm... I am not new at this. I have all 3 air assisted systems. They all have similarities and differences.

There are things that you can do with an Enset that you can do with no other - and having met both Tira and spent time with Chris DeCamillis, I think that you will find that they are equally as service oriented as the other two.

Lindsay is the inventor or his systems and has always bent overboard to keep me covered. We have 10 of his tools. I needed some "O" rings last week (about the only thing that ever wears out) and a coupla plug screws. If you ever lose one, you'll understand how hard they are to find on the floor... I had the replacements in 2 days.

GRS has been fine throughout the years and we have 4 or 5 of their units.

I personally use Lindsays the most, both for their portability and because of the feature of stroke control on the hand piece. I am a bit disabled and that feature makes my life much, much easier.

I don't know where else you can go to try out all 3 side by side... if ever you or anyone else wishes to spend some time playing with them - just contact me and we will set up a date & time.


Brian Marshall
 
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JJ Roberts

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I have all Lindsay's engraving tools and sharping system at my shop,student's may bring any GRS engraving tools also teach H&C and hand push.I make it easy for student schedule class's they can come during the week or on the weekend as long as I not doing a gun show,student's have a choice two,three or five day class's call any time for date & time or any engraving questions. 703-330-0448. J.J.Roberts
 

zzcutter

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I was a hammer and chisel guy for many years in the 80's I got a GRS machine but never really liked it, but I feel now that I just didn't give it a chance.
About 4 years ago I got A60 scope and wanted to give the air tools a second chance. I spent about a year going back and fourth between all 3 in the end I choose the EnSet.
Does that mean it the best one NO, but it was the best one for me. I have pretty much retired my hammers and chisel as I have learned to love all the features that the EnSet offers. You get 3 different internal hammers head weights and with adjusting the air pressure and the stroke control with the foot pedal you get full control, which is the only one that offers that. You really have to use one to appreciate the control you get with it, but you should also try the other 2 as that is what I did and in the end I feel I choose wisely for my needs.
So good luck and enjoy your journey. ZZ
 

John B.

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More than three systems.

In this thread there has been a strong concentration on the three systems, GRS, Lindsay and EnSet.
These are all wonderful, quality tools, sold and backed by fine people.
But to be fair, and at a much lower price point there is another quality hand engraving power option that should be considered
That would be the flex shaft driven tools such a the Ngraver machine.
The Ngraver Company is a fine family owned and supported American business like the top mentioned three companies.
When used properly with a rotating or ball vise, a quality foot pedal and the work being turned into the tool there is no drag from the flex shaft. Ray Phillips, inventor and founder of the Ngraver Company produces excellent engraving using his tool while demonstrating it at gun and jewelry shows.
These versatile machines are easy to overlook but are a viable relatively low cost method of hand power engraving. Give them a try too while considering tool systems and before spending a lot of your money.
 
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Sam

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In this thread there has been a strong concentration on the three systems, GRS, Lindsay and EnSet.
These are all wonderful, quality tools, sold and backed by fine people.
But to be fair, and at a much lower price point there is another quality hand engraving power option that should me considered
That would be the flex shaft driven tools such a the Ngraver machine.
The Ngraver Company is a fine family owned and supported American business like the top mentioned three companies.
When used properly with a rotating or ball vise, a quality foot pedal and the work being turned into the tool there is no drag from the flex shaft. Ray Phillips, inventor and founder of the Ngraver Company produces excellent engraving using his tool while demonstrating it at gun and jewelry shows.
These versatile machines are easy to overlook but are a viable relatively low cost method of hand power engraving. Give them a try too while considering tool systems and before spending a lot of your money.

Thank you John, for reminding us of Ray and the Ngraver company. He's a gem of a guy and makes some excellent products.

It would be nice if Ngraver had online ordering. Hopefully Ray can make that happen some day.
 

Brian Marshall

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Sorry,

I have the NGraver products too... didn't mention them because the original post seemed to be asking about air assisted tools...

We also have the Foredom Power Graver which is another flex shaft powered tool. Doesn't seem to me to be as durable as the NGraver?

Like I said, all are here to try - side by side.


Brian
 

metalnart

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Nov 11, 2014
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12
hey thank all of you for some super info. My lesson learnt is be more concerned with the trade art then the tools. sure a skilled engraver can show sweet work with any tool. so as Mr Mike Morgan wrote I kinda feel hits just what I need do now first.
Thank again every one for so much care to help.
Best. Wayne
 

metalnart

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Nov 11, 2014
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Thanks for the Shawn Hughes info. But for me I found I need to stop making things and just buy them. Or I will never get anything done. I made a quick homemade engraving block that would have been better for the smelting pile since I just got a Magna Block last week. lol.

But I do appreciate the link and cool work Hughes does. All the best!
 
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