I suspect the answers to my questions are not a function of what type of tool I engrave with but centers around general technique. I'm practicing to engrave now on a 4041 steel plate (first attempt was on Aluminum) using a chisel and chasing hammer. This is what I have discovered so far in my trials. Please let me know if I'm off the mark or have better techniques to try...
1) Practice plate should be mounted flat on my engraving vise and kept horizontal while engraving. Initially, I was moving the plate around on the vise at different (steep) angles creating inconsistent lines.
2) It appears that chiseling at a 45 degree angle is optimal.
3) When I cut a radius my body needs to be perpendicular to the chisel as I'm cutting the arc.
4) I believe the reason why my lines are not consistent in width is that I'm going deeper sometimes in my cut. Not sure how to keep the line (chisel) at a consistent depth.
5) It's best to engrave the entire outline of the art work first and then go back for deeper cuts and detail.
6) A 90 degree chisel is best for straight/straiter cuts while my 123 degree chisel is best at engraving a tight radius.
7) It's best to use light consistent chasing hammer taps.
8) Sometimes the sides of the engraved line appear wider than other lines. I think I may be twisting the chisel slightly as I'm cutting to give me these "flair outs"... sorry best descriptor I could think of.
Other than that... so far so good!
Thanks!
1) Practice plate should be mounted flat on my engraving vise and kept horizontal while engraving. Initially, I was moving the plate around on the vise at different (steep) angles creating inconsistent lines.
2) It appears that chiseling at a 45 degree angle is optimal.
3) When I cut a radius my body needs to be perpendicular to the chisel as I'm cutting the arc.
4) I believe the reason why my lines are not consistent in width is that I'm going deeper sometimes in my cut. Not sure how to keep the line (chisel) at a consistent depth.
5) It's best to engrave the entire outline of the art work first and then go back for deeper cuts and detail.
6) A 90 degree chisel is best for straight/straiter cuts while my 123 degree chisel is best at engraving a tight radius.
7) It's best to use light consistent chasing hammer taps.
8) Sometimes the sides of the engraved line appear wider than other lines. I think I may be twisting the chisel slightly as I'm cutting to give me these "flair outs"... sorry best descriptor I could think of.
Other than that... so far so good!
Thanks!