Question: Graver Tip and Heel

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Good morning, Good afternoon and Good evening everyone,

I am fairly new to the world of engraving and have been spending a lot of time lately working on my scroll design and basic line and curved cuts to get a feel for my GraverMax. I recently purchased a power hone along with a standard sharpening fixture and have been reading up on sharpening angles and such. What I seem to be having trouble with is the heel of my 120 degree. When making sharp curves for the back bone of scroll I've noticed some heel drag on the outside of the curve. Could this be due to the wrong angle on my heel or the wrong length of the heel? I've read that Sam Alfano's 120 has a 15 degree heel with about 1/4 mm in length. I will post pictures this evening of what my tip looks like under my scope but what is a good method for sharpening the heel with the standard sharpening fixture? Would it be worth while to get an EG 120 sharpening fixture or a Dual Angle sharpening fixture? Any and all help is appreciated and would love to hear what you guys do to ensure you have the proper tips on your gravers.

P.S. I do a fingernail check on all of my graver tips before using them.

Thank you,

Taylor Calderon
 

John B.

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Taylor, I'm sure you will get a zillion answers to your question.
but it's early days......just keep cutting and the answers will come to you.
Don't buy a lot more equipment.
Just change to a standard 90 degree graver with standard heels until you can get some clean cuts.
The 120 takes a little more skill.
Best wishes on your engraving journey.
 
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Perfect, thank you everyone! Any tips on sharpening/forming the heel with the standard sharpening fixture? or should I be doing it with a flat plate by hand and not with the power hone?
 

jerrywh

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Two things are important to prevent heel drag. # 1 is a short heel .010 is good. #2 if you will lean your graver slightly to the outside of the curve you will reduce drag. Also you could be cutting too deep. In my opinion there is nothing better than a duel angle sharpening fixture. I have found nothing that can't be done on one yet. A parallel heel will help if you are going too deep.
 

monk

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sharpening, to be succesful, must be done with a fair degree of consistency. esp true for a newb. the best way is to use sharpening systems. an experienced engraver will adjust their wrist without even thinking about it. they can tell by the feel just how to hold the graver. a newbie without that experience, may have difficulty if the geometry is inconsistent.
 

don hicks

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Perfect, thank you everyone! Any tips on sharpening/forming the heel with the standard sharpening fixture? or should I be doing it with a flat plate by hand and not with the power hone?

Hi Taylor;
I would not be putting a heel on with the power hone, unless it is not spinning. You can get a short heel with a very short drag of the graver on a fine stone or diamond hone.Hope this helps.
Cheers
Don
 

Sam

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Heel drag can be a result of too large a heel and/or poor graver control. If the heel is perfect, then it's most like pilot error. As John B said, it will eventually come to you. As you gain more proficiency and control and develop muscle memory, your cuts will become very smooth and clean.
 

DKanger

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the standard sharpening fixture
What is this "standard sharpening fixture" you keep referring to? IF it's one of those Crocker units, sell it on eBay and buy a dual angle. It will allow you to do any profile you desire for now and future needs. It's the greatest thing since safety pins were invented.
 

Christian DeCamillis

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What is this "standard sharpening fixture" you keep referring to? IF it's one of those Crocker units, sell it on eBay and buy a dual angle. It will allow you to do any profile you desire for now and future needs. It's the greatest thing since safety pins were invented.
The standard sharpening fixture is similar to the Dual Angle sharpening fixture only it has one angle setting on it and can not be rolled side to side like the dual angle can be.

https://www.riogrande.com/Product/GRS-Standard-Graver-Sharpening-Fixture/118095

it is good for shaping the graver and for sharpening the main face however it cannot achieve the angles necessary for the heel. How I've been sharpening my heels is on a 1200 grit diamond plate with the tail end of the graver resting on a graver blank and I do a small sweeping motion over the plate. After close examination under my scope and using my calipers, I realized that my heel was far too long and have since resharpened to approximately 1/4 mm at 15 degrees. This essentially solved all my issues with heel drag and I've begun to see cleaner sharp turns. On a side note, what is a sign of cutting too deep? Are there any dead giveaways? And what PSI are most of you typically running at for those of you on a GRS pneumatic? I have been running my finer stuff at approx. 15-17 PSI and when I cut away metal on bead settings I typically turn it up to about 20-22.
 

John B.

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To form or replace the heel using the basic or standard GRS sharpening fixture just insert the graver with one of the bottom flats between the smooth areas of the spring loaded jaws. These are good, fast fixtures.
Set to the desired 15 or whatever degrees and rotate the fixture on the post to contact the graver on to a stone or lap creating a small flat.
Move the graver to the other bottom flat and repeat. Check that both heels are the same length and meet on the center bottom line or keel.
Because of it's snap-in spring action it is the fastest sharpening fixture for an engraver using standard heels on 60, 90, 110 or 120 degree tools.
I keep two of them on my bench. One set at my standard 15 degree heel and the other set at my standard 50 degree face. Really fast touch ups.
I also have the auto angle fixture when I want a parallel heel or a different face or heel angle. A great fixture but much slower for everyday engraving.
 
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monk

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a crocker can work. it's dependent on the degree of consistency you'r looking for. finding a setting on the crocker,and establishing a graver protrusion length will work. time after time. but-- if you change any of the settings, you'll likely not get it exactly the same again. there are those that say it's all a bunch of baloney any way. in truth, it likely is an overworked concept. experience can lead one to do many different cuts with just one graver.
 
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