Help, please: new engraver controlling depth of cut

jim garrett · Aug 4, 2017

I am a new engraver and I am still having some difficulty controlling my depth of cut. In watching Sam's cd on graver sharpening I noted that he likes to use a very small heel. I have tried same and find that I have somewhat more difficulty controlling and making a unifor cut than if I use a little more heel on my gravers. Does the size of the heel have an appreciable influence on the depth of cut. Jim Garrett

mitch · Aug 4, 2017

yes, a longer heel will definitely be easier for you to maintain consistent depth. think of it as the keel or hull of a boat. a very short boat will pitch fore & aft much more readily than a long boat.

dlilazteca · Aug 4, 2017

a longer heel will definitely help as monk has stated, great for straight lines for someone that is starting out but if you leave a longer heel when doing tight curves you will get heel drag meaning your cut will look dirty because the back end of the heel hit as you turn.

The only thing I can recommend is start off with a long heel to cut straight lines to get and learn how to control but practice practice practice is the only way through this

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jim garrett · Aug 4, 2017

Thanks for the info guys. Rex Pedersen told me that improvement comes as the chips hit the floor.

DKanger · Aug 4, 2017

What are you cutting? Softer metals require a shallow angled heel (10-20 degrees) and harder metals can go up to 40 degrees or more.
If cutting a soft metal, you can dive in when you enter the cut and make it go too deep.
Also, imagine your workpiece as zero. If you have a 20 degree heel, you lift your graver 20 degrees from zero. 15 degrees and you skid.....25 degrees and you dig in.

MoldyJim · Aug 4, 2017

One thing I have found as a beginner, Spend some time to watch the chip size as it forms on the tip.
Use the width of the chip as an indicator of how deep you are going, wider chip=deeper cut.
Hard to watch chip and lines and etc, etc, all at the same time but that is one thing to look at.

Sam · Aug 5, 2017

You can use as large a heel as you like, but you will probably notice heel drag as you make tight turns, which is the reason for short heels. Use whatever gets you the best results and be prepared to modify heel size as you develop better graver control.

monk · Aug 6, 2017

a big help here-- having many, many gravers. a given geometry, say a 90. 1 or 2 with no heel. a couple with short heels, and a couple with long. no sense re-configuring a graver just to do one cut. this may seem wasteful to a newbie. in fact, when one gets busy, it's more efficient to just change gravers rather than re-configure. one cant have too many gravers.

mdengraver · Aug 6, 2017

It's interesting for wood end engraving my teacher doesn't even use a heel.

Help, please: new engraver controlling depth of cut

jim garrett

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