[Jewelry making - Article 00466] - Re: [Orchid] Learn to engrave

[Melissa Veres]

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    The list of classes and videos that you have provided is a great
    starting place for getting the basic information about hand
    engraving.  Classes are always a good investment for the beginner
    because there is someone to guide you in issues of posture, tool
    angles and technique that will always be among the pitfalls of
    learning this skill.  Trying to sort this stuff out by yourself when
    you begin to learn has caused many good intentions to go astray. 
    It's simply very hard to figure out what is going wrong and why,
    unless you are so driven and so methodical that you are willing to
    keep making small modifications to tools and technique in an
    organized and scientific manner until you achieve results.
    (Read-practice, systematically organized.) 

    	the  Gravermax is a must if your going to hand engrave. 

    I have to disagree with you there.  I learned how to engrave using
    push gravers by hand  before the Gravermeister (the original power
    assist) came on the market.   There is a tremendous learning curve. 
    I have owned a Gravermax for the last 10 years, and today I wouldn't
    be without it.  Let me say, however, that there are advantages and
    disadvantages to learning with it.  First, it is a pricey
    investment, along with an air compressor and hand piece.  You
    already need to get an engraving ball vise and gravers, so there is
    seed money needed upfront, before you even  think about the
    Gravermax.  If you take a class first to see if you like engraving,
    and the Gravermax is provided for your use, that's great, but you
    don't really need one to start out. 

    Second, the Gravermax provides the push, and you provide the
    control.  The reason it seems to cut down on the learning curve is
    because you are tackling one aspect of engraving (controlling the
    graver) while the machine is controlling the other most important
    aspect--pushing through the metal.  If you cut by hand, you develop
    a "feel" for how the graver is moving through the metal, and each
    metal has a feel that is unique.  You can tell if you are cutting
    too deeply, or about to loose control (i.e. slip), by how the graver
    is feeling in your hand.  The gravermax will power right through
    that, and can hinder your technique.  The gravermax has lots of
    other uses, and for setting, texturing, etc., I highly recommend it,
    but be aware of what it is (and isn't) doing. 

    The only way to really be a good engraver is to practice, practice,
    practice. I have looked into the engraving master series tapes,
    although I haven't jumped in yet, there does seem to be positive
    feedback out there about them.  The book, The Art of Engraving, by
    James Meek,  and The Jewelry Engravers Manual, by R. Allen Hardy,
    are also tremendous resources. The reason there are so few engravers
    out there is because it takes dedication (or some other form of
    compulsive disorder) and many hours of practice to become really
    proficient on the variety of metals and projects that will come your
    way. 

    I don't want to discourage anyone from learning how to engrave.  I
    want to see new people learning this most ancient of art forms, and
    keeping the knowledge alive.  I would definitely recommend taking a
    class first.   Add Brian Marshall's Jewelry Arts School, in
    California to your list of possible instructors. It isn't an easy
    skill to master, but you can do it with dedication. 

Melissa Veres, Engraver
mveres AT fast.net

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