My first knife.

[brandvik]

I started engraving 4 months ago and until this knife the only thing I have done so far is scratch around on steel practice plates and a few other steel odds and ends. I finally worked up the courage to try to engrave on something 'real' yesterday and this is what I chose. Its a cheap little single blade folder (2.5 inches long closed) that I dug out of the kitchen junk drawer. I know there is much room for improvement but I would appreciate your honest criticisms.

Here's what I know is wrong.
1. The design is a little undersized for the area. I learned this as I did the background removal and suddenly everthing shrunk. How is the best way to compensate for this shrinkage when you are laying out the overall design?

2. The border is a little ragged now because, try as I might, I nicked it here and there with the rotory. How do you A., avoid this apparent inevitability or B., repair it after the fact. I havent tried to go back and clean it up with a graver as I am afraid I'll end up just chasing the ragged border closer to the edge and end up with no border at all.
3. The mysteries of shading seem to elude me still. I tried to taper the shading lines by gradually lifting the graver / increasing the power as the line progressed to its termination point. I have practiced this with better success on practice plates, but the results were not as I had hoped for on this knife. I know this is probably mostly due to lack of graver control but if you can see what the issues are, please point them out.

With the exception of the shrinkage problem, I am fairly pleased with the design but I would welcome your criticisms there as well. I used a graver with 115 degree Lindsay grind, a 90 degree Lindsay grind for the shading, and a 1/16th" carbide dental bur ground to a needle point with a couple of flats ground at the tip. The project took about 8 hours total.

Finally, I see a lot of posts from very accomplished engravers on this and on Sam's forum. I always try to look for photos of new guys work to gage how I am doing compared to other beginners so I'd welcome comments from other newbies as well.

http://www.gsranch.com/Engraving/1stKnife7SM.JPG

http://www.gsranch.com/Engraving/1stKnife8SM.JPG

Thanks

[monk]

firstly, you're doing the right thing by cutting on real things, not really costly ones. second, i'm one who likes to see some background along with the engraving, so i like what you did that way. thirdly, as a beginner, i would advise against hogging away backgrounds with rotary tools. at least on money jobs. these tools can give you a good feeling and then wham, smack you right in the chops. you want to try to pull your cuts towards yourself with the rotary. if you use fluted burs, they will have a tendency to pull away from you creating real headaches. be real careful there. draw lots,you get better, practice cutting, you get better. better is the direction practice makes you go. it just happens that way. your work looks very good for a first timer. guess how much nicer in say, a year ?? up toyou.

[Tom McArdle]

First of all, it looks better than my first efforts, esp. from a design stand point.

To avoid shrinkage, stay OUTSIDE the lines when making you initial cuts, on any element that will border the background. Just cut barely outside the line. This also gives you leeway for a clean up cut after the background is done.

Your shading does show some gradation. That is a good thing.

You also may want to cut a bit inside your border lines also, to be able to clean it up after backgrounding. A nice clean bevel cut seperates the elements from the background, and enhances the relief appearance of the piece. That is one thing about air assisted engraving that i sometimes don't like. The back ground is so flat, the cuts are so uniform, that sometimes the engraving looks more like a very clean etch than an actual engraving. The way to avoid this is to taper your cuts, esp. shade lines, and that nice bevel cut I mentioned can really give the piece life, a third dimension, instead of just two levels. High quality shading is another way to add the thrid dimension, so to speak.

Design wise, maybe bring the design off of the bottom of the border, instead of the corner. generally, it is thought better to not leave too much backgrouind to remove. It is better to fill space with more leaves, and just remove a bit of background here and there. Overall though, it looks like real engraving.

One final thought, there are so many variations in metal, that good results on a practice plate won't easily transfer to other objects. That is why what you did was a good step. Real world experience, in a safe environment. A piece that belongs to you, that was not too costly. This will eventually become a thing to treasure!

keep it up!

Tom

[Tom McArdle]

PS Are the bolsters brass? cast brass can really be tough to cut. it can be "chippy", and not allow a smooth cut. if you felt like you were really fighting the tool to get this done, that may have been an issue. bad gold castings can give you fits also!

Tom

[brandvik]

Thanks Monk and Tom,
I appreciate your thoughtful advise. Its hard as a beginner when you carefully apply everything you think you understand in a project and when you are done you stand back and realize that "something" is wrong or missing and you can't quite put your finger on it.

I have done 4 more knives since I posted and I have learned a lot with each project. I have a much better handle on the rotory tool now and I have identified that my most significant problems are related mostly (but not limited to) design issues.

I agree that a lot of these problems can be minimized by making better use of the space, and filling the space with properly placed and balanced design elements. Unfortunately, there is a big difference between understanding this and actually accomplishing this.

As I said, I can see improvement now that I am working on my sixth knife, but I still struggle with the execution of a design that has real dimension.

Monk, your advise to pull the rotory towards you is spot-on. I have modified the carbide bur I am using now so that it takes smaller bites and is less likely to run away uncontrollably, but it is still the most stressful part of engraving (at least to me).

Tom, the bolsters on this knife are brass. This was the first time I cut brass and I found that it had a tendency to gawl rather than cut cleanly. Its good to hear that this may be a result of poor quality brass rather than just poor sharpening and tool control.

I have enjoyed moving away from practice plates and intend to keep turning up the pressure on myself to work on objects of greater value. I have found that my concentration and commitment levels are greatly increased when there is a little something a stake.

Thanks again for your comments and valuable advise. I hope I can post my next project soon for your review and comparison.

[monk]

actually doing this type work is a nightmare for beginners, but only because they have to think about each little thing ( which is critical ) that has to be done. as you become progressively more experienced doing this stuff, you can quit thinking about the work, and just let your mind go to that very special place where it's totally peaceful, quiet, calm you're so relaxed- there's nothing on your mind,then the damn cat knocks over a vase of flowers and you are grabbing at your chest wondering if your time is up !!
engraving can get you away from the world for awhile !:)