robert weinstock

Hi Jim, Thanks for the answer, even if it is 9 months late.

Oh, another place to find square high speed steel blanks is the GRS website. www.glendo.com, or www.grstools.com They have lots of useful tools.

Hi Tassos and Doug, With high speed steel, a little coloring shouldn't be a problem, but Janel's tip about having a bucket of water nearby so you can regualrly quench the tool is essential, especially with regular tool steel, but even with HS, it's a good idea. For me, square stock, or rectangular stock works much better than round, because with round, you can't pick up the graver and know without looking which way is up. It's too hard to position the point properly. I use so many gravers, and am switching from one to another so often, that I don't need another complication in the process. I don't know where it is on there website, but it's a lathe cut-off tool, and they are about 4 1/2" long, and 1/2" high x 3/32" wide. When I make gravers, that's what I use. It takes a fair amount of work to shape them, but gravers last a long time. With a tool that's 2 3/4" long, you'll need a fairly long handle to hold it even like a graver. I start out with a short, stubby handle, and switch to a longer handle when it gets too short. With a square bottom on the tool, you can shape it to any shape you want. I would use the tools you have, and you'll find out what works for you. Have fun.

That sounds like the truth. It could have been during the war as well. Lots of stuff was hard to get then too. My teacher used to have trouble finding tool steel to make punches and chisels, so he would use all kinds of strange stuff, like valve springs which he would staighten out, and forge to shape. Also lots of work. Bob

While I was writing the above info Dick snuck his contribution in before I was finished. Oh well, I guess there's more than one way to do things after all. I'm sticking to my way though.

I've got lots of corks, but I wouldn't recomend using them for graver handles. They don't have a ferrule, and are so soft that the tang of the graver which is usually fairly sharp could go right thru the cork, and into the palm of your hand. OUCH. I've stuck myself enough times with gravers (the other end), and don't want to tempt fate. I would recommend buying graver handles from a jewelery supply house. They're cheap enough. Drill a small hole in the end, deeper than you want the tang to go in. Then heat the tang with a torch while holding it tang up, and then burn it into the hole you've drilled, leaving a little more to drive it in. Have some water running, so you can cool off the business part of the graver so you don't lose the temper. Once you got it done, it will last a long time. It's worth the extra work.

Thanks Janel, Your recommendations work, and even a dummy like me could figure it out. It works just as easy on a pc. Bob

Hi Jim, Those are interesting pictures. Did you learn that technique in Japan? I've never seen that style of sharpening. Did those pictures come from a book?

Hi Jim, No, I didn't develope it on my own. I'm not that smart. I learned to cut dies (and carve and chase) from an old German master who studied in Fortzheim (Germany) just after WW1. He was way better than me. I think he learned it as an apprentice. There are lots of tricks I learned from him. When I use a hammer and chisel, I don't use the ring tool. My chisels do have a heel. But I only use chisels for removing excess metal. I do all my detail work with push gravers, and only use the ring with them. Bob

Here is a picture of a couple of my chasing hammers. They are some of my most precious tools

Here's another picture of some of my gravers, and my little helper

To continue my last post, here is a picture of a tool I use a lot. It's a type of fulcrum for my gravers. It works best with flat or round gravers, but not well with onglettes and knives. I hold the tool with my left hand, and rest the graveron it right behibd the tip. The graver rides on the ring, and enables me to get great control,and lots of power. I can scrape small amounts of metal, or large amounts depending on how much force I use. The ring is 1/8 inch drill rod, but you could use brazing rod, or even copper if you are concerned about marring your work. I use it frequently with a flat graver I have that's 1/4 inch wide to flatten out an area. It works well on large surfaces, but I've used it to great advantage on small areas as well.

Hi Everybody, I'll add my two bits for what it's worth. Everything Jim said is valid,and is probably the best way to go for someone with no experience. It also jives with what most engravers do, more or less. The cuved heel is intriguing. I've never seen that before. When I do work with a chissel, whether it's with a hammer, or with some form of reciprocating handpeice (I use a magnagraver, but it would apply to a Gravermax too), I grind a heel on my tool, but when I use hand gravers, as I said before, I don't use any heel. The difference is that I'm carving, not engraving. I carve to a much greater depth. I can still go around tight corners. I do pretty small scrolls with an englette. It just takes lots of practice. I'm not making the cut in one push. It takes several times over the same curve to get the depth I want. I'll show some more tricks soon. I use carbide for chissels in my handpeice. It stays sharp much longer than hss. For handmade gravers, I use lathe cut-off tool bits made of 5% cobalt hss. I get them from MSC. They are pricey, about $5 each, but they hold an edge, and last a long time. A good way to see what different kinds of gravers look like, look at a catalogue like Gesswein jewelery supplies, or Otto Frei. They have lots of useful tools. I'll continue this later. Bob