Hi Everyone

Some time ago I posted some photos of the side plate of the Hammer Gun that I’m engraving. Well, it’s six weeks later and I’ve managed to finish the other side plate plus the two hammers and top thumb lever.

All very tricky because I’ve never engraved a curved surface before and there’s nothing like diving into the deep end to see if you can swim or not. John B suggested that I might like to try my hand at a bit of piercing on the top thumb lever, so I did.

Then the FEGA DVD arrived with the Ron Smith seminar this year on sculpting metal. That and the advice that John B and you guys gave me, made me think that it would be a good idea to sculpt the back of the thumb lever. So I did. It took a couple of goes as I wasn’t that happy with the results first time around. It was mainly done using cuts for depth (like a wood chisel) and textured punches for texture, relief and form in the leaves (like leather carving)

The side hammer was an act and a half and my initial checkering attempts were a complete disaster so I ended up matting the surface. Holding it so that your fingers and graver could move without getting caught in something proved to be extremely challenging.

During all this my microscope decided to crap itself so that the lenses didn’t zoom in sync. So I also learnt how to emergency fix microscopes as well. All part of the engraving experience I figured (actually I’m being really polite here as my wife has a completely different spin on that little story because she heard the language involved in fixing it and possibly the neighbours may of as well!!!!)

The other thing I dicovered is that these things are really hard to photograph so I'm looking forward to Sam's seminar at Reno next year

The engraving, sculpting and piercing are far from perfect but the lessons learnt were well worth the effort. So it’s onto the main action from here.

As usual, your comments, critique and advice is always welcome and appreciated.

Best regards
Andrew Biggs


Andrew Biggs
9/5/2006 6:42:03 AM

Andrew Biggs
9/5/2006 6:42:36 AM

Andrew I like your design especially the boars head on the hammer, also the rosette on the lever. It looks like you overcame the obstacle of curved surfaces very well. I was wondering if you used Photoshop or Corel for your image work. Either case you did a nice job. About photography, I have a few suggestions, at least until we can hear Sam’s seminar. I take my photos outside when it is overcast or at least cloudy. This helps to avoid the harsh shadows that the sun produces. Also try and avoid holding the camera by using a tripod and a remote shutter release if you don’t have a remote release you can use the timer release that most cameras have. This will avoid camera movement when the shutter is operated and will give a sharper image.

Mike

Robert Bissell
9/5/2006 2:18:57 PM

Hi Robert

Thanks for that. I used Photoshop for those particular photos. Although in saying that Corel does just as good a job. Thanks for the photos tips as well. It seems with the engraving side of things you sort of have to become a "jack of all trades"

Cheers
Andrew

Andrew Biggs
9/7/2006 6:55:15 AM

Hi Andrew
When I photograph a piece it is usually necessary to also use a "bounce card" to reflect light into those darker places such as the side of your lever. With a three dimensional object it is impossible to light everything evenly so the card helps soften and spread the light out. This can be nothing more than a pice of white illustration board or even tag board which is more flexable and can help you be creative with your reflections.
The scroll is really coming along great, but I do have one suggestion. Your main scroll which is coming off from the rossette is a little stretched out and you are getting a straight line. Remember there are no straight lines in nature. Don't force a scroll and reach so far with it.

Martin Rabeno
9/7/2006 9:09:24 AM