Help, please: newbie having fundamental problem

[mtwheatley]

Hi you'all

I'm very new to engraving. I've fiddled a bit, read a lot, and bought what I think is a reasonable beginner's set of stuff: a Graversmith, a GRS power hone with dual angle fixture, a standard GRS graver's ball and a bunch of QC gravers including 90, 105 and 120 square gravers.

I figured out how to sharpen and heel the gravers thanks to my equipment and some very good online literature.

But almost always when I begin to engrave a straight line (using copper practice plates) my graver gets bogged down, graves too deeply and ends up like a snow plow trying to push copper. If I try a much lighter touch and lower graver angle, the graver gets started and then just doesn't move.

I've tuned my GRS 901 handpiece, resharpened and heeled the gravers, and checked that all my air pressures are correct.

What am I doing wrong? It looks so easy to do in the beginner's videos.

Help!

Michael

 

[Tira]

What angle do you have for the face and the heels? Art you using a traditional heel or a parallel "V" type heel? The traditional heel will be easier to do straight lines especially at first.

 

[mtwheatley]

Tira,

Thanks for your reply.


The face of my square gravers is 45 degrees, the heels are 15 degrees. I'm using traditional heels.

I have the same problem with flat and onglette both of which have 45 degree face and very small heels ground according to GRS instructions.

Michael

 

[Marrinan]

where are you located? Could be someone is close enough to give you a bit of a push start. Lots of folks her are willing to share. Fred (I'm in southwestern GA)

 

[Tira]

OK, If you have those angles then I'll assume that you have them correctly put on the graver. One thing you may want to try is to make the heels longer. I know there is a lot of talk about super small heels (which have their place from time to time), but to start you may want to make them just a bit longer. If you think of the tip of the graver very much like an old fashioned plow out in the fields it may help. You are trying to dive to a certain depth by raising the back of the graver (plow) so it engages the metal. Once you get to the depth you desire, then you bring down the back of the graver (the farmer would push the back of the plow down) and hold at this position. With longer heels this balance point should be easier to find.

One exercise that may be helpful is to purposefully porpoise. Dive and come up, dive and come up and try to do this in a metered fashion. You should start to feel the balance point on the heels. When they get to that point they should sail along at that depth until you change something.

Hope that helps.

 

[Marrinan]

Tira's advice is right on the money. I would comment that if your line goes deeper than the height of the heel the heel is ineffective at controlling depth. Fred

 

[Chujybear]

Might just be the added power fr carving air assist. Using it is an exercise in temperance

 

[take-down]

As a newbie to this is a very interesting thread

I am having the same trouble with air assist & I was thinking because of my big boof hands I haven't been able to get low enought so am at present trying out different heel angles

The big difference I find, is learning with push, the graver was about 100mm long & I was taught to hold it as far back as possible & spring it onto the material the depth was then controled by how much you tilted you hand altering the spring
but I never realy pushed the graver as the left hand turned the work onto the graver
Where as the air assist you tend to hold it right up front, takes a bit of getting used to
lots of lubricant helps to
Cheers Graham

 

[FANCYGUN]

As with push engraving, adjust the length of your graver to the size of your hand. No difference as I hold my gravers the same way no matter what method I am using. Try a sightly longer heel and perhaps a higher heel to get your fingers around the tool. Than just relax and don't get uptight over what you think you are not doing. Don't over power your air assisted tool also. A light touch goes a long way

 

[mtwheatley]

Thanks for all the good advice. I'm going to practice for a while and try adjusting the heel on my gravers. I'll let you know what I find out.

Michael

 

[Beathard]

Don't grip to hard. If your elbow is up, lower it.

 

[Brian Marshall]

The most important thing you can do that no one has mentioned - is to hold your mouth in the right position.

Some prefer the tongue in the right cheek, others the left. Victor Vasquez taught me that trick many years ago...


Brian

 

[FANCYGUN]

Excellent point Brain. I tend to bite my lower lip. Works so much better than the tongue technique. Oh yes.....hold your breath also.....

 

[take-down]

Darn thats my problem I have my tounge sticking out & biting it to hard hence cutting the circulation of to my brain
But jokes aside thanks to all the have replied to the original "Q" as this has been a big help to me also
Cheers

 

[BrianPowley]

I wonder if Roger Bliele is going to put "tongueing" in the engravers glossary?

...onto the engraving help: I know this sounds silly, but is there a chance you are holding the handpiece like a pencil? I hold mine like a dinner knife.

 

[Mike Fennell]

Marty, I tried that. Turned blue and fell off the stool. Is there a time limit on that?

 

[Brian Marshall]

OK Michael,


Have you tried all the technical advice you received before I hijacked the thread? (sorry, sometimes I just can't resist)

With what kind of results? Anything seem to help?



Brian

 

[mtwheatley]

I'm away at the moment, enjoying the 100 degrees and sunshine in Palm Springs. My tongue is carefully plositioned on the rim of my margarita. I'll be back to the gravers soon. Thank you all for the good advice.

Michael

 

[Brian Marshall]

'plositioned", huh? That can't be the first margarita...


Brian

 

[mtwheatley]

Thanks to you all for the great advice. Keeping my tongue in my cheek, keeping my elbow down, rocking the graver a bit to get a feel for the right angle, better coordination between hand and foot and a bit more aggressive foot all helped. I'm no longer snow plowing ... now I can get on to the real job of learning to be good at this. I have lots of copper blanks and lots of compressed air. I'm going to practice, practice, practice and continue to read this excellent forum

Michael