Sterling ring engraving, first time, looking for advice

dave gibson

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A friend just came back from Taxco Mexico with 8 silver rings he wants me to engrave. Well I've never engraved a ring, or sterling silver either.

My question is everything,, is there anything special I should know before starting? I can't even think of any specific questions. I've engraved round shapes lots of times, there's nothing intimidating about this job since he plans to sell them individually in Europe to tattoo artists that already know me, low budget, just extra spending money for him. Almost no money for me but I consider it a learning experience and I do get paid for it

I've started on one plain flat band (they're all different simple shapes) I managed to get a pair of straight lines as margins around it. It wasn't at all easy, I couldn't get a real bite on the metal, I made my heels a little shorter than usual last time I sharpened but they all seemed about the same. It was just so slow it was almost like hand pushing, which I don't know how to do either.

There're a couple square flat sides I'll do before anymore round parts so I can get a better feel for it and I have some great reference for the designing. Just wondering if there's anything I might be missing like walking around the chair 3 times before turning the lights on. Any advice will be welcome.
 

Roger B

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Dave,

I'll give my opinion of silver as being easy to cut - so much so that you might find the graver diving in unless you are watching for it.

Something you might want to be aware of is whether the rings have been hand fabricated or cast. Cast rings run the risk of porosity and again seem even "softer" - hand fabricated bands or die struck signet rings are better to work on.

Roger
 

mdengraver

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It's like rollerskating on a beach ball, so keep your cuts/jabs short, let the eyes connect the jabs and don't slant your script very much. Keep the letters as simple as possible and just capture the jist of them, modify your engraving tools narrow or bent if necessary for better clearance.
 

mdengraver

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Before one attempts to do inside ring engraving, it is best to master the basics of lettering and graver tool control and sharpening. An expert engraver I met said he engraved for several years on regular items before he even attempted to engrave inside a ring. Engraving inside rings can be quite lucrative and a good service to the customers since few engravers can actually do it well.

http://www.engraverscafe.com/showthread.php?3600-Aphabet-for-Inside-Ring-Hand-Engraving
 
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dave gibson

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Definitely not inside engraving, not even lettering, just some design stuff. All smithed not cast. I have some small point bent gravers from NGraver that I like for small stuff on irregular surfaces. I'm thinking/ hoping once I get going on a flat area or two it will come together for me. I've been practicing small designs on copper, I'm not used to doing small decorative designs where 'calligraphy' cuts can be so expressive in the ring size framework.
My approach when I start cutting, today I hope, will be low and slow,, small diamond face bent graver with a tiny heel, shortest stroke that's comfortable, probably turn the compressor down. I've got plenty of time so that's why I'm asking before starting.
I'm sure I can do this, I'd just like to avoid any simple, common problems that inexperienced, hobbyist engravers encounter doing this type of job for the first time, thanks y'all.
 

monk

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not so helpful here, dave: why not learn to push ? the results are surely worth the effort. for me, tricky, delicate stuff in silver, pewter or copper i found easier by doing the push technique. i could never quite get the "feel" for such by using the meister or the lindsay. for others, the "feel" seems to come using the power toys, but not for me. practice on copper. it cuts just about identically as silver.
 

dave gibson

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Monk,Do you use a flat for that kind of small stuff like for rings? I'm almost hand pushing, I'm going to test it on copper with the airgraver on looow, sort of a hand push with power back up?? Would that be a dumb idea?? Or maybe just forget the powergraver for learning hand push? I'll give it a try.

I didn't do anything on the rings today but I was engraving some money clips for the same kid.
 

davidshe

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Here is some of my advice for silver ring engraving for what it's worth....

- when I started ring engraving I practiced on brass and copper rings. You can make them from tubing or you can order them very inexpensively from the usual places. Practice includes learning to do the layout which is not always easy. Get that right first before you start cutting. Transfer or draw or however you do it, but with some practice you will improve that important part of the puzzle. Then practice scribing and cutting the borders. This also takes a lot of practice to begin to get the feel of it. Depth and width will become more consistent with practice.

- workholding... I started out by using the magnetic leather pads in the vise and Sam showed me the trick of putting a simple thin round rod or graver through the ring so that it does not fall when you loosen the vise to turn the ring. After I began getting some orders for ring engraving I moved up to a GRS ring holder and then finally to a Ring Genie. These make the job easier but until you get good with a simple vise holding technique these nice tools will do you no good.

- Don't get greedy on how long you make each cut on a ring. Keep the cuts near the top and don't try and go too far downhill or uphill. Be patient and turn the ring after each short cut. As you get better you will be able to extend the cuts a bit more. This will also help you to practice starting, stopping, backcutting and making it all look like one cut. Takes time. I am still working on it!

- I have never used push engraving but that would probably be fine if you can master it. I find that using a very short and easy stroke with my air graver works just fine. You need to experiment with a wide range of settings and make some notes as to what works best for you. I personally like to use a 90 for borders and a 105 for design on rings.

Good luck and I hope this helps a little :)
 

monk

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Monk,Do you use a flat for that kind of small stuff like for rings? I'm almost hand pushing, I'm going to test it on copper with the airgraver on looow, sort of a hand push with power back up?? Would that be a dumb idea?? Or maybe just forget the powergraver for learning hand push? I'll give it a try.

I didn't do anything on the rings today but I was engraving some money clips for the same kid.

squares and flats mostly, 60 - about 1oo degrees never did the onglette thingy--. some get exceptional control with a 120. i was never one to enjoy the 120. push work is done ever so delicately. going deeper, one begins (at least me) to see problems arise.tool of choice would depend on the design and size. short pieces of dowel rod and hotmelt glue will suffice for clamping in a vise, unless you want to get fancy.
 

James

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thanks, the concept shorter cuts, not going "uphill or downhill" to much, and nicely blending in the short cuts helps me visualize proper practice technique.
 

monk

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Monk,Do you use a flat for that kind of small stuff like for rings? I'm almost hand pushing, I'm going to test it on copper with the airgraver on looow, sort of a hand push with power back up?? Would that be a dumb idea?? Or maybe just forget the powergraver for learning hand push? I'll give it a try.

I didn't do anything on the rings today but I was engraving some money clips for the same kid.

i don't think anything one tries is "dumb". esp if the result is useful. remember how stupid the concept of a pocket-sized telephone was ?
 

dave gibson

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i don't think anything one tries is "dumb". esp if the result is useful. remember how stupid the concept of a pocket-sized telephone was ?

I still think pocket size phones are dumb

I engraved a couple rings today, it went much easier than I expected. I spent a couple hours yesterday practicing on copper tubing, a 2" piece about as big around as a ring only cost 83 cents.
 

monk

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I still think pocket size phones are dumb

I engraved a couple rings today, it went much easier than I expected. I spent a couple hours yesterday practicing on copper tubing, a 2" piece about as big around as a ring only cost 83 cents.

nope !! they're called smart fones
 

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