Question: beginners advice

[spuggie30]

hi all
my name is wayne i am 30yrs old from england,i am totally new to engraving and this forum, i am looking for some advice on what equipment i would need and where i can purchase it from,any help would be greatly appreciated

thank you

 

[Sam]

Welcome to the Cafe, Wayne.

Here you go: Tool List for Beginners

 

[golden forge]

Welcome Wayne,
The first thing you will want to do is go to the Tips Archive page of this forum, Same has a list of tool list for the beginner. Give it a read, and do some poking around in the Archive, you will have a lot of your early questions answered, there is a monumental amount of information here available for you to read.

 

[dlilazteca]

Basically all your questions have been answered, they have been asked many times, make good use of the search button.



Carlos De La O III

 

[DKanger]

Wayne,
In addition to asking your questions, you should put your location in your profile so it appears in your postings. There are a number of forum members residing in various parts of England who might provide an invitation to visit them or provide lessons if you live close, or provide other resources within your country. A chance to talk to an engraver face-to-face is always preferable to trying to learn over the internet; and will usually get you on the correct path without wasting funds buying non-productive equipment.

 

[Brian Trace]

Wayne,

See my Private Message.

Brian

 

[phil]

Sutton tools in Hockley, Birmingham are the UK suppliers of GRS products as well as H.S. Walsh also in Hockley, Birmingham. Both offer a mail order service and stock vices, gravers, optivisors etc. First thing to buy is a pencil, paper and a large supply of erasers.

 

[dogcatcher]

Do your homework before you start buying equipment. Read and take notes, lots of notes. Man has been engraving for centuries by hand pushing and using hammers before the power units came into existence. Make sure you are committed for the long haul before investing thousands of dollars in equipment that later may just collect dust. There are several good books to get you started in the right direction, most are available at local libraries. Start practicing your drawing skills, your drawing skills will improve if you work at it.

Your notes if you take good notes will become your best friend. They will eventually have the answers to most of the questions that you can dream up. Most importantly is have fun learning, it won't be easy, but it is rewarding.

 

[Ed Westerly]

As dogcatcher stated, know what direction you want to go with your engraving. don't just jump into whatever seems popular or affordable. There are several ways to engrave, and some are easier than others to learn, and some are more enjoyable to do! (to each his own, as it were!)

 

[LVVP]

Welcome to the Cafe, Wayne
Belive me, you can find there a lot!

 

[spuggie30]

Thank you all for your advice,much appreciated
I have been looking at the gravemeister online
Are these any good for small scrollwork & lettering
I like the idea of the built in compressor as I am limited for space at the moment .

 

[Artemiss]

Any of the GRS equipment will work, but be aware that, although having its own air supply sounds like a good idea, the constant noise (although relatively low) will drive you mad.

Cheers,
Jo

 

[spuggie30]

Yeah i have read a few comments regarding the noise jo,seems to be the only downfall to that system

 

[dlilazteca]

You can create a small sound proof box southern customs did something similar for his compressor

Carlos De La O III

 

[Sam]

You might risk overheating a GraverMeister if you enclose it. I think they need air circulation.

 

[thughes]

Hi Wayne,
I am far far from being a real engraver, so take this for what it is, just some hard earned beginners knowledge. If you can afford it, take a basic lesson FIRST thing. If you can't make it to more formal lessons, try to find a local engraver that can give you at least a weekend or so. Some basic practical knowledge will make everything you read and study make so much more sense. Just learning how to sharpen a graver is tougher than you might think if you don't know what one is really supposed to look like and do. And do this before you buy anything.

Good luck
Todd

 

[Tira]

I started with a Gravermeister long ago. It worked well enough, but I couldn't take the noise after about an hour of sitting next to it (admittedly, I am sensitive to noise). I did put it in a box with insulation and had a fan blowing air straight into the box which was set under the table. That was better, but I did obtain the Graver Max as soon as I could and was much happier with both the performance and the noise.

 

[Jesse.beckham]

If you can muster the cash, go with a Lindsey and a co2 set up. Solves the noise problem.


Jesse Beckham
Lost Penguin Leather
Wichita Falls, Texas

 

[BLW]

I run my Graver smith off a scuba tank when I can't have the compressor running works fine and no compressor noise

 

[tim halloran]

Spuggie30:Try some foam ear plugs, they're less than a dollar a pair.