new to all of this

[shadowhound]

Hey everyone i am new to the world of engraving. i come across a page online about engraving jewerly and wood and glass and i was totally amazed but it all but i would love to start out on wood, i was wondering

how and where can i begin i have a dremel is that good enough ? does anyone have any info or tips as this seems like a very beautiful hobby

 

[monk]

we lcome to the forum. most of us have a dreml tool stashed under the bench. once in a blue moon, they can be handy. their drawback is the slow speed, they are bulky, and sometimes the bearings wobble a bit. i believe for rotary work, at least for me, i like a minimum of about 50k rpm. my best one is a dental type that cranks at around 400k rpm. i do believe there are some "high end" rotary tools that work at about 30k rpm, but i've never used one of them. generally in inexperienced hands, the slower tools are more difficult to control. they tend to skate or crawl across the surface when you least expet it. these rotary tools do have a use in wood and glass work, but are about useless for jewelry work in my opinion.

 

[shadowhound]

how much would i be looking to pay for a beginners dental drill type of tool im not even sure of the name

 

[Sam]

Welcome to the forum Shadowhound. We are primarily metal engravers here, but check out my friend Bill Janney's website. He's a fantastic wood carver and has classes, tools, and videos.

 

[dimovengraving]

Hello and welcome shadowhound

Well, I create my wood carving only with chisels. That's my method .
I use Dremel only for some textures.


Wish you success

 

[Beathard]

I started by looking up http://www.grstools.com. I had no idea what to do to get started, so I signed up for one of their classes: http://www.grstrainingcenter.com/

I'm very happy with them, this forum, and the instructors who have helped me.

 

[unclejim1955]

Be sure to check out Evgeni's website. Some of the most awesome wood carving I've ever seen.

 

[mtgraver]

Welcome, I'm with Evgeni on this, I also only use hand chisels and chip carving predominately with a knife and homemade skew chisel. I find the correlation between chisels be it wood or metal are very similar once you understand the nuance of the tool to the material. Besides it has a long history and rotary tools in my opinion can't get the same look as a well executed carving with chisels. A few tools will get you started with the minimum of investment and easier to control, not knowing your background or skill level.
Mark

 

[monk]

shadowhound: an air operated dental type handpiece i would think the cheap ones would probably start at about $150.00. you may find a bargain on ebay. don't forget- you'll need a small compressor to run these tools. you can get one for well under $50.00 at harbor freight. the harbor freight models use 1/8" burs. most all dental types us fg (friction grip) type burs with a
1/16" bur shaft. A SOLUTION TO THE HARBOR FREIGHT MODEL : shown is an fg dental bur with the 1/16" shaft. the bur is soldered into a 1/8 od-
i/16" id x 5/16" long length of copper tubing. this works well when i want the slower speed.