Testing Chris new HSS graver

Today I have been testing Chris new HSS graver on stainless steel. (Inox).

I engraved one of my designs on a Chris Stainless Steel folder knife too, I started yesterday. The C-max breaks a lot on the knife, and is almost unable to cut the Stainless Steel plate I have. When the graver point breaks, almost one millimetre has to be sharpened.

Using Chris new HSS when face and heel perfectly polished is able to cut my hardest to cut Stainless Steel. But the tip broke a few times. Just a very little part of the tip. So I then used the 600 diamond lap only to make the face and heel. Without polishing it after that. It then holds much longer, don’t know why but it does.
I used some cutting oil as well. The cutting was quite deep in one cut, and only a few times I had to re-sharpen after only a small piece of the tip broke.

I tried several times both highly polished and just the 600 wheel to be sure. While cutting with the 600 grid sharpened only, I could use the graver a long time without getting the tip broken, and the graver stayed sharp.

I also had to find out how the HSS graver would hold on while doing shading lines. I highly polished the HSS and as the shading lines were not that deep, the graver didn’t brake once on the part I shaded.

I also was surprised that the cuts when the graver was not polished showed clear bright cuts.

So my conclusion while using this graver whole afternoon is that I didn’t have a graver able to cut this tough Stainless until now.

So Chris, send me 10 of these gravers as sure they will cut also Titanium, brass, and regular steel, silver and gold.


arnaud


A stainless steel folder from Chris website with my design


this is a sheet of hard to cut Stainless Steel


some shading lines with highly polished face and heel

This makes sense Arnaud.
Carbide although harder than HSS is also more brittle. Therefore it will tend to chip easily on the harder metals like stainless steel. The carbide will wear slower than HSS and therefore tend to last longer on softer metals like copper.
HSS is more forgiving where breakage is concerned because it it more ductile or flexible than carbide and can absorb impact better than carbide.
The addition of cobalt to the HSS helps to lengthen the life of the tool by lending it better wear properties.

Sometimes I will drill with a HSS drill rather than a carbide one because experience has taught me that a carbide drill is more apt to break on certain materials than a HSS one, especially when deep hole drilling.

What is this new HSS tool that you speak of? What makes it different than other HSS cutters?

Haraga.com said:

What is this new HSS tool that you speak of? What makes it different than other HSS cutters?

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It has something to do with the alloy itself, but Chris can answer this better than me of course.

arnaud

Arnaud, they sound like quality gravers, I may have to give them a try. Off topic- what is the material you are using to hold the knife to the block?

Brian, the material I use to hold the knife on the block is what we call setter-cement.
You heat it with a heating gun. And when you want to clean the object, put it in Synthetic Thinner or acetone.

arnaud

Arnaud, is setter-cement the same stuff as chasers-cement?

Joe

JOe Jacob said:

Arnaud, is setter-cement the same stuff as chasers-cement?

Joe

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Most likely the same type of stuff.
Just don`t let it drip on your skin.. hurts like hell :big grin:

Setting cement and chasing cement are very similar.Chasing Cement has fat in it to make it a little more pliable. Either would work for holding while engraving with Chris's new gravers.:thumbs up::thumbs up:

Arnaud,

If I understand correctly, you are getting better life from your graver tip by finishing with the 600 grit instead of high polishing. When you rub your graver on the 600 which way are you moving the tip? Like A or B in the diagram below?

Thanks,

Roger

Roger, yes when both face and heel done on the 600 diamond wheel, the tip breaks less. And it still cuts quite crispy and clean.
For the face I use the A way you draw. I put one side of the heel hold by the dual angle fixture on the 600 diamond wheel, and then turn the diamond lap between 10 and 20 mm to have a nice heel. And one can turn the lab both ways of course, I only did it by turning the wheel in the direction the graver is pointing to. Now thinking about it, perhaps it works better when turning the wheel the other way, like sharpening a knife like I learned here from some knife makers.
But as I said already, for the tiny shading lines, a highly polished face and heel works fine as well. So perhaps if you don’t have to cut that deep in one cut like on a watch, it could work also with a polished one.

Sure I have some stainless steel case I could give a try, but perhaps those more experienced watch engravers can test this better than me, as they have more to compare with.
Anyway, adding some lubricant like oil from time to time helps a lot keeping the graver going without re-sharpening.

arnaud

Gemsetterchris said:

Most likely the same type of stuff.
Just don`t let it drip on your skin.. hurts like hell :big grin:

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I know at least one engraver in Antwerp who uses the red stick that is used to seal envelopes or what ever and then using the seal ring to mark it.
He used it the way I use the setters cement. One advantage as I tried it as well is that it solves quicker using solvent.

I don't know the right name for this stick, but a image sure will help to understand what I'm talking about.



arnaud

There are two kinds of cement we use in the states. One is orange flake shellac and the other is called setters cement. I't also a reddish brown color. I think it's pretty much the same as dop wax used for lapidary. The pitch used for repousse is much more flexible than the others. All will work.

The down side to them is that they are brittle so your piece can break away.
they do stick to metal.

The products like Thero-Loc and Jett-Sett don't stick to anything once they cool. I usually use super glue to hold to those once they cool to the shape. Works great for me.

Chris