different ways to relieve background

[Barry Lee Hands]

There are a lot of ways to skin this cat, and cat skinning is always messy for a beginner, hehe.
Generally, I will cut my leaves and sculpt them with a round bottom. Then, I cut the scroll lines with a 116 degree, and the edges of the leaves also.
I have found, after many years of using a flat for background, that to relieve - I prefer to start with a round bottom to relieve the background, as it is easy to go quick, and I mean really quick- without making a mess of the edges. It als solves the problem of a high spot in the center of the negative space, because with a round bottom, the center becomes the low spot.
After the first relief pass with the round bottom I go in with a flat about .020 in or .5 mm, to flatten, then a .010 in flat to clean the corners, then touch up with a 90 v chisel all the original lines
Next I punch everything flat, stipple, recut with the 90 again, and stipple the fine edge again.
to fully sculpt and relieve a pair of scope rings, this takes about 6 days.
I am commenting, because I happen to be doing a pair of rings for a project and have a pic to share:

http://engravingschool.com/forum-pics/barry/getrichquick10232014034.jpg

[Dave London]

:thankyou[1]:Barry I will give that a try next time. makes sense to me

[Jan Hendrik]

Damm! That is some neat work Barry! I need a lot more practise!

[Barry Lee Hands]

Damm! That is some neat work Barry! I need a lot more practise!

Thanks Dave, and thanks Jan.
It looks soooo rough to me, hehe.

[SEngraver]

Hi Barry Lee,
Thank you for the good tips there,I am off to make a round graver.
A very nice close up there
SE:yo[1]:

[Daniel Krauss]

Barry thanks for this little informative post. I'm trying to stay away from getting a rotary for background removal. Your explanation on doing it without is exactly what I needed...Blessings...Dan

[Barry Lee Hands]

Hi SE, and Daniel,
Glad you liked it!

[SEngraver]

Thanks Dave, and thanks Jan.
It looks soooo rough to me, hehe.

Hi Barry Lee
It may look so but thats a view on huge magnification and when we would see the same without that magnification with our eyes it will look pretty nice I am sure.
If I look at my hand to remove a burr under the scope or loupe It looks not so good but without that my hand looks nice to me :)

SE:yo[1]:

[Otto]

That's great. Thanks for the tips.

[Barry Lee Hands]

Thank you . . .

[Jeff Miller]

Thanks for the tips and close up, explanations and a picture like this is a big help.... looks great!

[redgreen]

I hesitate to offer any opinion about how to engrave or tool use, however; I have offered this in the past. As my babble is often unfathomable I thought I would reiterate, hopefully the contents will not be found offensive or objectionably tedious.

I have found a round works very well for background removal, however; Mike Dubber's Speitzer used with a round heel exceeds the rounds capabilities. I use a universal template with the heel template rounded to offer a 'round' graver in the vertical position and tilted in either direction it will remove metal to nearly flat without any possibility of the heel digging in.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-HtVPHbJ8vVg/U1p3WBV6ntI/AAAAAAAABB4/XLSVnQV9ZQQ/s400/SAM_0179.JPG

Works very well for me but as we all know I'm a bit abnormal to say the least.

Bob

[Ray Cover]

I like that Barry. :cheers2[1]:

[choppers_rule]

Hi Barry,
When you said "Round Bottom", are you referring to an Onglette?
I'm a newbie and been using flat to remove background. And yes....I ruin some of the edges while removing background.:banghead:
Sorry for the stupid question.

Denny

[Barry Lee Hands]

I like that Barry. :cheers2[1]:

Thanks Ray!

[Bob DeMarcki]

Mr. Hands,

I have found that your advice to use a round bottom graver for material removal is superb. This approach has saved me a load of time. Thank you very much for sharing this information with us!

Bob A. DeMarcki