Hi Everyone

I was wondering if you could please help me out.

I’m shortly going to start engraving the detonators/fences of the 12 gauge hammer gun action I’m working on. They are going to have a couple of New Zealand native birds on them which I was intending to carve/sculpture in relief. (Well that’s the plan anyway. How successful it will be is another matter)

I was wondering what sort of scrapers and tools you guys (and ladies) use for doing this kind of work? Also what do you make the tools out of?

If possible (and this is a really big ask) could you perhaps accompany any descriptions with a drawing/photo of the tool.

Anything you can tell or show me would be much appreciated.

Best regards
Andrew Biggs



Andrew Biggs
7/10/2006 5:00:41 PM

Hey Andrew. There are lots of ways to do this and you will no doubt experiment over time. I use a standard 3 sided scraper for some of the sculpting. That is like a triangle file with the teeth removed and a sharp edge added to a slightly steeper point. I also find that the edge of my standard burnishing tool works really good for scraping and sculpting, especially in concave areas. I just keep the edge of it sharp when polishing it. Otherwise I use ordinary small flat chisels for a lot of the roughing out. The dental burr/air tool works great on sculpted oak leaves but will remove metal very fast so you must practice first on scrap. I find for the best results I have to go very slow and keep going over areas until they look right. Regards...

Sam Welch
7/10/2006 5:34:52 PM

Andrew, Another useful technique is displacing metal. This is commonly done by hammering the metal with slightly rounded punches. I've seen all of the sculpting done this way and I've also seen the sculpting roughed in with flats and the finall finish executed with the punches. A polished punch and light hand can leave a very nice finish.

Lee Griffiths
7/11/2006 11:17:02 AM

This year in Reno Ron Smith gave an excellent seminar on the metal chasing techniques and tools on the line Lee is talking about. On reflection, I do use a little of that technique, punching or chasing metal but most of mine is done scraping and carving. I was always interested in stone sculpture which I don't think can be chased around??? Regards...

Sam Welch
7/11/2006 5:06:50 PM

Thanks Sam and Lee

That's some really useful information you've given me. A lot of good food for thought and plenty to practice with. The chasing technique sounds interesting and kind of like compression/impact burnishing. When I've finished that part of the action I'll post some photos. I'm working on one of the side plates at the moment.

I took advantage of the DVD special on getting this years Reno seminars and I'm looking forward to when they arrive. Funny thing is when I play the FEGA DVD's at home, my wife, Mary, leaves the room shaking her head. I can't understand why!!!!

Best regards
Andrew Biggs

Andrew Biggs
7/11/2006 10:54:46 PM