Engraver Tips

Guiding instead of pushing your graver can prevent slips.

Engraving involves carving text or embellishments--usually ornate scrolls and leaves--out of surfaces, usually metal or wood. Whether you're engraving a monogram on a silver keepsake or carving embellished text for a piece of wooden wall art, knowing engraving techniques is important. It takes years to master many of them, but follow these tips to improve the quality of your work no matter what skill level you are.

Draw Leaf Script

Leaf script is a lettering style with ornate embellishments that resemble leaves on certain parts of a letter. Before you tackle drawing leaf script, familiarize yourself with the engraver's script alphabet, a style of lettering. To engrave leaf script, draw thick lines for letters instead of hairlines, as in normal scripting. Decide where on the letter you'd like to place a leaf scroll--usually at a letter's corners or points. Draw two lines to represent the left and right side of the leaf, like an upside-down "v". It is important that one line connects to the letter on the outside of the border, and the other line connects on the inside. Connect the lines with leaf tips, then erase your original borders. Thicken lines, add some accent leaves and shade.

Prevent Slips

Keep your tools sharp. A graver is a hand tool with detachable heads--some chiseled, others needle-pointed-- that engravers use to carve script or images. Dull gravers often slip and skid across the wood or metal you're working on. Avoid pushing forcefully on the graver as you work. Gently glide the tool over the surface instead. Overpushing increases your chances of having a slip. If you do experience a slip, use a burnisher to polish and smooth the slip.

Create High Contrast

Use blackening engraving for dramatic, high-contrast effects. This method works on most engraved materials, including wood and metal. Purchase a flat-black paint. Shake and stir the paint, dilute it with acetone or thinner, and use a cotton swab to flood an engraved area with the paint. Wipe paint off the surface with your thumb, but leave it in the recesses. After it's dry, inspect the paint job to make sure it's even. If paint puddles up, simply use your thumb to smooth it out.

Stippling

Stippling creates shading or patters by engraving many small dots. It is appropriate on any engraved surface, including wood and metal. Do all stippling under a microscope. Keep your tool sharp and perpendicular to your work at all times for the most control and precision. Buy carbide points instead of steel, because the latter dull over time. Do not "write" with the stippling tool as you would with a ballpoint pen. Instead, hold the tool slightly above your work and bring the machine up and down, pressing it against your finger for stability.

References

• iGraver.com: Tips and Tricks for Hand Engravers- What's New

Resources

• Engraving Defined
• Simple Script Alphabet