Help, please: My First Brass Buck Knife

[davidshe]

Hello,

After finishing one side of this knife I was hoping to get some input from some of the wonderful engravers I have seen on this forum.

This is my first post so I will briefly introduce myself; My name is David Sheehan and I live in Santa Barbara, CA. Last year I unexpectedly lost my long time job and decided to seek a new career as an engraver. Last October I spent a week with Ray Cover to learn the basics and see if it was a fit for me. Loved it and Ray is a great teacher. I practiced every day for hours on end and then last Feb I spent a week with Sam Alfano. Wow, did that every get me motivated to push harder! Sam is a great teacher! I have most every video that Sam has made and as you can see on this knife, I also have Sam's monogram system which is very valuable in my opinion especially to a newer engraver.

Here are my questions...
1) After practicing countless hours on brass plates the brass in the Buck bolster totally threw me! Seemed really soft and cut nothing like the practice plates. Is that typical for knives?

2) The borders look ok from a distance but under the scope they are sorely lacking. I used a 120 graver for everything but since the brass was softer I think next time I will use a 90 or 105 for the border lines?

3) Once I realized it was softer brass I put a slightly larger heel on my graver. But, that did not help much. Then I tried a smaller heel with very light pressure and that seemed to be better? Ideas on that?

4) After buffing a bit I try to clean it up with detergent and a soft brush but under the scope it is not very clean. Does anyone use steam cleaner or ultrasonic cleaner after engraving? If so, what kind of equipment would you recommend?

Hope I wasn't too long winded and thanks in advance for any input.

Best regards,
David

 

[Newton Pens]

This is gorgeous.
How do you (and this question is for anybody) decide which way is "up" on an object like this? The D and S could have been flipped and the D on the end and the S by the hinge (or joint?). I know it would be easy to just ask the customer, but sometimes they just say "Dunno" so then... do you just pick? Or is there a norm that most engravers go by?
Thanks!

 

[Willem Parel]

very very beautiful engraving David, I think it's very difficult to get a job 100% watching it under the scope.
The little failures you notice under the scope mostly you don't see them with the nakend eye.
I think you're well on your way regarding to your engraving.
The background is very nice, how did you do this?

 

[monk]

i must say a very, very nice job you have done. i'm guessing you didn't fall asleep in any of the classes. i've done a few bucks. all that i did were as you said-soft. be aware- a maker- knives, guns, etc can change materials whilst retaining the original appearance. this does not mean that subsequent models will cut exactly the same way. brass can give fits to one, esp if the part is cast. btw welcome to the form, and thanks for posting your work.
newton asked a good question as to the orientation of the letters. some objects, by tradition, are done a certain way ie tankards generally are done based on whether the recipient is right or left handed. doing these, the engraving faces away from the person taking a drink. not sure of the buck. i'd seek input from the recipient.

 

[Brian Marshall]

My suggestion would be be to try and stay away from buffing ANYTHING after you engraved it.

You may not notice (yet), but you lose some of the characteristic "crispness" that only hand engraving imparts.

And if you get carried away, you can ruin an engraved piece on a buffer.

Ask Sam to tell the story of an exquisitely engraved ring one of his customers took to an inexperienced jeweler...


Brian

 

[jetta77]

great work! Engravers tend to cut on all sorts of metals and materials, each can be vastly different in how they cut. Experience and time is what I recommend, just keep cutting and you'll get better. Your doing great and I see a lot of potential in you

 

[glstrcowboy]

I have had very good luck removing buffing compound (and lots of other things) with this SprayOn 749 Electrical Degreaser http://www.sprayon.com/products/electrical_degreaser

 

[Brian Marshall]

Mike,


It's not about removing the compound - it's about rolling over the crisp/sharp edges and reducing the clarity of the engraving by using a buffing machine after the work is done...


Brian


And as a side note, in my opinion, the less chemicals/solvents in the shop, the better.

 

[dlilazteca]

Very nice how was the background done?

Thanks

Carlos De La O III

 

[Southern Custom]

Brass can be a tricky one. As you get some time under your belt, you'll experience everything from dead soft to super hard and slippery stuff. Same with steel. Over time you'll know from the first cut how to work with any given material. I can say that soft brass takes a light touch and you seem to have done pretty well with it. Nice job.
Layne Z

 

[davidshe]

Newton - thank you and it's interesting you asked about the D and S orientation. I thought about it hard and looked at many pics on the web. I decided that for right handers this would be the top side of the knife because you would hold it in your right hand an open the blade outward. Other than that, I have no clue! Oh, and the DS are my own initials so I did not need to ask anyone else

Willem - thanks for your nice comments. I did the background with a small benchtop milling machine. I do things backwards I suppose but I put this background in first with a diamond tip cross cut pattern and then engrave around it. It is not very deep background. Sometimes I do this with fine line cuts with a 120 graver and sometimes when I want to go deeper I do it the way Sam taught me using both a square graver and also a flat graver.

Monk - thanks for your input. I am glad to know that I need to be aware of material variations, especially with brass!

Brian - I appreciate your input and I do try only to buff sparingly. I suppose I should get it buffed perfectly the way I want BEFORE I start cutting!

Jeff - thank you for your encouragement and you can bet I will be putting in lots and lots of time. Love this stuff and I know there is only one way to get better!

Mike - thanks for the tip. I will look into that degreaser. Never hurts to experiment and try new things.

Carlos - thanks for the compliment. See my note to Willem for how the background was done.

 

[davidshe]

Thanks Layne, I appreciate your input and kind words. I am "slowly" getting a feel for the various metals!

Best,
David