First attempts at engraving

Please dont laugh, but when looking through my pattern boxes I found these two copper plates that I had engraved back in 1963 when I was an 18 year old apprentice practicing the craft. I had to learn a certain level of engraving for outlining as I did a lot of saw piercing in my career.

Cool!

Those are very nice!

Nothing to laugh at there mate :thumbs up:

VERY nice James. Especially the warrior on his horse.

James that's a puma with power. You showed your talent early.
Kevin P.

we never laugh at such cool looking work ! it has a very nice quality about it !

Well, if you were that good in 1963 when you first started, what do you do today?

Charlie said:

Well, if you were that good in 1963 when you first started, what do you do today?

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Hi Charlie,
Take a look at my previous posts, one titled "More of my work" shows a selection of my work.

I just bought some tools from GRS about a month ago and have been trying to learn how to use them.About all I,ve done so far is scratch up a lot of copper.If that was your first attemp at engraving and it looked that good its obvious I better not quit my day job.

doug said:

I just bought some tools from GRS about a month ago and have been trying to learn how to use them.About all I,ve done so far is scratch up a lot of copper.If that was your first attemp at engraving and it looked that good its obvious I better not quit my day job.

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Hi Doug, When I say this is a first attempt at engraving, I meant engraving pictures. I did not mention the thousands of practice cuts of straight lines between two scribed lines on a copper plate. Then the thousands of curved lines between two scribed lines. I think I filled up four four inch square practice plates before I was confident at holding a graver without skidding off the surface while cutting. My grandfather was a hand engraver and taught me the old methods. I have never used a modern air supply graver, but have seen some demos at the Basle Fare. My grandfather and his working partner Arthur Jenkins were engravers that worked mainly for the Alfred Dunhill Company, adding monograms to cigarette case, lighters and other smokers accessories. They also made and inlaid gold saw pierced monograms into wooden backed brush, comb and mirror sets. A job that I did for them as an additional income earner, in the years when I was an apprentice back in the 1960s.
The two pictures that I engraved were done when I was seventeen or eighteen around 1964.
Since then my engraving has only been on outlining work for saw piercing and the occasional hand carved badge crest.
Here is another crest in a badge that I made for The Old Fettesians of Fettes College in Edinburgh, Scotland.
I hope you like it.
James

Very Cool. I also enjoyed the first two engravings.

Kevin mentioned a puma with power, and that was my first impression. It looks like a style, that developed a little more fully, could be very interesting, or futuristic. I think something like that would look great on a knife

John

James, I'm glad you added the bit about copper plates. It makes it a little less intimidating for us novices.
Kevin P.