new and have a few questions

hello everybody. i built an old school chopper and was looking into getting some of the aluminum parts engraved. the more i looked into it, the more i became obsessed with the art. the things i want engraved are easy and can draw myself. plus i'm a perfectionist and would rather do it myself. it would make more sense to put the money out on the tools, rather than pay someone to do it anyway. also i could do it at my leisure instead of shipping out everything and waiting to get them back. i took a lot of pride in building the bike myself and engraving would just top it all off. i tried engraving a couple old parts with a dremel, lol. they actually came out pretty good. i can only imagine how much nicer it would be with the proper tools.

could anyone give me some advice on what kind of tools to start out with and where to get them? an air-graver is what i would love to get but if i should start out with a hammer and chisel or something else so be it. a nice used set up will be perfect. older and noisy is not a problem, anything is better than a dremel. spiderwebs, block letters, and script in aluminum is what i will mostly be doing at first. if i get any good at this in time i will be doing my buddies bikes as well.

any info will be greatly appreciated.
thanks in advance,
brian

Hi Brian,
You can give a little look in the Buy/Sell section of this forum in the header at top right.
You can get an idea and some prices there.
Whatever method you choose to go with, H&C, or air power the main thing is to learn how to shape and sharpen your tools.
Consider Sams tips and CD to give you that knowlrdge.
If you want air power and noise is not a consideration you might find an older GraverMeister would fit your needs without spending too many $$$.
Congratulations on building your ride and best of luck into your engraving adventure.

welcome to the forum. read what is here. there's several lifetimes of experience waiting to be learned by one such as you. send us a few fotos. who knows, perhaps we may learn something from you ! if you built your own bike, this means you know a lot of "stuff".