Engraving! Close; no cigars yet.

[Panzercat]

Alright, with my last two etched blades sold I'm trying my hand at true engravings using the same dremel tool from before. I've got the basic form down, but as you can see, I've got a long way to go before I can approach professional smoothness in the design, let alone my lever gun (thus the leverguns tie in )

The first attempt was with a normal carving bit that simply couldn't penetrate deep enough to obtain a real engraving. The end result is jaggy and no where near professional grade. Incidentally, you can actually feel the hardening the closer to the blades edge I engraved.



SoooOOOooo I went and bought a tungsten steel cutting bit which incidentally does exactly as its name advertises; achieving true engraving depth with little effort. What I haven't been able to achieve with it is precise control so it doesn't look like suck.



At the moment, I'm thinking manual hand engraving is the way to go. Sadly, I don't have a few thousand to cough up for an airgraver and stuff, so my next step will be to either refine this technique or do it by hand.One thing I have noticed is hand engraving tools aren't exactly easy to come by at home depot.

Ah well. Game on

[Rube Burrows]

Good start. I am sure that its an acquired skill and something that takes time to learn.

[pokey]

here's one source i use,

http://www.riogrande.com/Category/Tools ... raving/308

probably need to cut while soft and harden the steel later.
engraving is harder than it looks.

[Blaine]

You're getting there....Practice, Practice, Practice

[kimwcook]

I missed this. I'd like to see the whole blade. And, I take it you made it given your statement. Clay edge and all. I'm impressed. I can't tell what it is by the small shot of the blade. Katana, wakizashi, tanto?

[Panzercat]

@Pokey
Thanks for the website. Finding sources for graver materials seems harder than it should be on google, so that helps a lot.

@Kimwcook
Hate to burst your bubble, I didn't forge it. Only doing after market work on cheap swords. The whole sword isn't worth showing since its literally my test beater I experiment different etching and engraving techniques on. It's pretty ugly :p

The short story is I bought four for experimentation; Two being experimental testers, two being production using what i learned (see the linked video). The engraving is a new phase and I don't think it'll work with a dremel... Too much torque involved on the bit to keep a nice steady line as it digs and not small enough in diameter to produce finer work.

[damienph]

You did that with a Dremel tool?! Nice work. I would like to see a full length pic as well.

[adirondakjack]

You cannot cheat engraving, either in equipment or practice. If you ever get serious, look up Jim Downing, "The Gun Engraver." He holds "chase" engraving classes every year and you learn to use an air engraver. Jim did a little scratching for me at a CAS regional a few years ago.



He did the bolts of both the first and second rifle ever converted by anybody to C45S. I traded an antique coffee grinder for the work.

[Rusty]

You're off to a good start. Keep it up, it looks good.

[Old Savage]

It has a good consistent look to it.

And pokey - engraving looks very hard to me.