About time for an introduction ;-)

[Twinck]

Hi all, figured it was about time I made an introduction post..
My name is Tom, I'm a watchmaker in Melbourne, Australia.. During the day I work for a watch brand in the city, and at home I am building my own watch/es (details on my blog linked in my signature) and since the beginning of my apprenticeship I have admired the work of hand engravers, notably Kees Engelbart who I had the pleasure of meeting last year...

I've attached some recent practice plates I have done, I plan on using various engraved elements in my watch design, especially on the dial, and with the amount of ideas floating around my head I should be practicing for many years to come

I've already gained many insights into engraving by reading various books and forums, and hope to gain many more from the wealth of experience presented here and other places..

If I can help anyone along the way I gladly will, looking forward to many interesting posts :biggrin:

 

[silverchip]

Nice to meet you Tom,
I will be over to Aussie-land in May to give a 3day workshop and see a bit of the country.Looks like your on your way to a grand obsession and lot of fun.You won't regret being a part of this forum.There is a great bunch of people here and they all have tons to offer when it comes to helping you on your path.

Dave

 

[Cloudy]

Welcome aboard! Watches have always fascinated me, but... Nice to see your work! Please keep posting.

 

[eastslope]

Carefull, it's fairly addicting.

 

[Sam]

Welcome to the Cafe, Tom! Nice to have you here with us. I checked out your blog which is very interesting

~Sam

 

[Bama]

Welcome, glad to see another new guy.

 

[g.rohrbaugh]

Welcome to the forum Tom!

 

[TyG]

Welcome Tom, there is a group of engravers up the east coast here in Aus that get together at least once a year, you would be most welcome. I know you will enjoy this forum as there the best engravers in the world on here. Ty

 

[Twinck]

Nice to meet you Tom,
I will be over to Aussie-land in May to give a 3day workshop and see a bit of the country.Looks like your on your way to a grand obsession and lot of fun.You won't regret being a part of this forum.There is a great bunch of people here and they all have tons to offer when it comes to helping you on your path.

Dave

I had seen news about your workshop on either this or the other engraving forum, or possibly one of the jewellery groups I subscribe to as well, unfortunately this year is out of the question for me, but hopefully in the future I'll manage to do some workshops around the place..

I hope you enjoy your trip out here, there is a lot to see.. most of it good ;-)

Tom

 

[Twinck]

Welcome Tom, there is a group of engravers up the east coast here in Aus that get together at least once a year, you would be most welcome. I know you will enjoy this forum as there the best engravers in the world on here. Ty

Thanks Ty, I've soaked up a fair few tips and tricks that have helped immensely already... so much so that I rarely don't find the answer to questions I have... I've only met the one local engraver, who seemed fairly busy, but his work was very nice.. I'll have to look into the next get together, hopefully I'll have progressed a bit by then.. So many things to do that aren't engraving as well

Tom

 

[Twinck]

Welcome to the Cafe, Tom! Nice to have you here with us. I checked out your blog which is very interesting

~Sam

Thanks Sam, I've been using the tips I've found on your site and others, as well as the few books I've procured around the place to get as far as I have, now I just need to practice, practice, practice... Tends to be the way these things go... I'll be incorporating engraving quite a bit in to my watchmaking as I progress as I feel it is, much like watchmaking an art that has declined over the years... Bringing awareness of it is part of my overall goal...

Tom