cutting brass

[Beladran]

After some tips on using lube when cutting brass I gave it another go. It helped a little. So I dug out a higher power opti lense and a 10x loop and started to cut some lines.
I will try and describe this the best I can. When you start cutting, the metal infront of the graver mounds up like its being bulldozed and not cut. Then it will slowly start rolling out. The ribben that flakes out, the edges look very jaged like the teeth on a saw blade.. My first guess is metal hardness or some weird high zinc alloy?? Should I anneal the brass first?

P.S the brass is from .25 bar stock

 

[Weldon47]

My advice: Get some steel to practice on. GRS sells it or, go to Home Depot & pick up a sheet. The GRS steel is about 2x2 but the Home Depot stuff i bought was 6"x18" & obviously It'll need to be cut down to size but it'll work too.
You'll find that steel is much better/easier/fun to engrave. Most brass can be quite a pain in the a$$ to get a decent cut in, especially if its cast & not rolled.... I've cut a bunch of it!

Weldon

 

[Beladran]

Metal it is then.

 

[Beathard]

Sounds like cast brass.

 

[Southern Custom]

Ditto what Weldon posted. I've cut quite a bit of brass and bronze over the years and it varies in consistency. Unless you have developed good graver control, brass can be quite difficult to cut well. A bar of good quality stock should be ok but I have no idea what you are actually cutting. (your description of the cut makes it sound as though your graver is not truly sharp though)
As Weldon mentioned, Home Depot does sell steel and I've found it in 2 inch by 2 foot strips. The surface will have to be prepped with sandpaper first. 320 grit then 400 and finer if you like. It's very soft stuff and quite easy to cut. They also sell round steel tubing that is soft and great for learning to cut on curved surfaces.
If you are still having the problems you mentioned then I'd definitely look towards your sharpening methods. Also try and keep the depth of your cuts shallower. Most beginning engravers I've worked with try and cut too deeply to start.
Good luck!
Layne

 

[Bob West]

Cutting brass.

Brass is a tricky metal. As you know, it’s a composite of several metals and as such will ware and engrave based on how the base metals are combined, as well as how the stock is manufactured. Clock plates are usually made of half hard brass and if worked [ie. Hammered] will become even harder. The long and short of it is. Look into the specifications of the stock you are using and try different types of brass and see what works for you. Don’t quit! I have seen some exquisite brass engravings.

 

[rod]

I agree cast brass is very different from rolled brass,

We lathe users would never cut brass with a positive rake, like turning cast iron, brass responds to zero top rake better. Rake is the top face over which the chips flow from the cutting edge, with steel 15 degrees of top positive rake is good. Translating to engraver geometry, and remembering what Barry L H correctly explains, engraving is metal turning, but you only spin the work in your ball vise ( think of it as the lathe headstock) in partial revolutions. The front face of your graver is what the lathe turner thinks of as the rake face, so we always go for a positive rake ... which is good for steel, and silver. Ergo, small suggestion, try a steeper, blunter front face? Say, 50 degrees or steeper, to see how you do? But certainly cast brass is not fun.

Rod

 

[phil]

I wasted far too much time when I was trying to learn lettering with cutting brass. I was only using hand pushing techniques and it was almost impossible to maintain graver control. I can do it now but would avoid it if possible. Using carbide makes things easier. I found turpentine to be a help also. Make things easy for yourself and go with copper or mild steel. Brass....pain in the brass

 

[Bama]

I have cut a lot of brass and early on I had the same problems. At first I had a tendency to plow into the metal, by this I mean I would let the graver tip get to deep into the metal and instead of cutting the graver was trying to push through the metal. Part of my problem was just graver control and the other part was graver sharpness and point size.

Over time I have reduced the size of point of the graver probably by at least half or maybe a little more. This seemed to help me not "dig" into the metal.

I also got better at sharpening and polishing my gravers and I started using the Lindsay point. All this made my cuts much smoother and stopped the ragged edges.

I use a 120 most of the time with a 45 deg face and 15 deg heels. I had to spend quite a bit of time with the graver to be able to cut fine lines with it but it can be done. That is where the graver control comes into play. I find that I can cut a very fine line but also get a dramatic flare cut with little effort with this graver.

I also agree with the others that steel is easier to cut than brass. So to get better graver contol it is better to practice in steel before cutting the brass.