New to engraving and new member but very glad to be here. Attended training last month with a great instructor (our FEGA President).

I'm spending a few hours each day making a mess of practice plates with lots of scrolls but I find myself wanting to move on to other things. Is this a bad idea or should I work on some scrolls and then work on some other items? If so what things will help me improve wihtout tryiing to do something too difficult. It's easy for me to want to move to something else when things get frustrating.

Thanks.

Kevin Monahan
4/13/2006 11:52:40 PM

That's a tough question Kevin without seeing what exactly you are doing at the present time. Perhaps a slight variation of scroll or proportions would help improve things and eliminate some frustrations as you learn. Post some pictures if you can of what you are doing then we all can TEAR YOU APART....just kidding.....but them we can see the best direstion for you to go. Welcome to FEGA

Martin Rabeno
4/14/2006 8:31:01 AM

I'll work on getting some pictures and feel free to tear them apart. Thanks

Kevin Monahan
4/14/2006 11:09:32 AM

Hey Kevin,
Don't forget to try to make some sort of design on the practice plate and engrave that. Give it the shape of a knife or something instead of just filling up a square.
Your teacher....

Rex Pedersen
4/14/2006 2:55:28 PM

I realized that after filling in about half of a 2"x4" plate. Then I made a random shape and started working on it and realized that I didn't leave room for a border. I traced out a pocket knife on a plate last night and will be working on getting a design drawn tonight. It's supposed to rain this weekend so I hope to be able to spend some time working on it.

Kevin Monahan
4/14/2006 3:19:40 PM

Kevin..here is a photo of templates that I make out of white bleach bottles. I cut the tops and bottoms off..save the wide center, and use it for templates..either to do drawings on paper, or scribe the outline on a practice plate...and draw your design within these odd shapes.

I hope this information is helpful to you. Please keep practising on practice plates..I know it is very tempting to want to do a gun or a knife. Keep us posted.

Yours truly,
JJ Roberts, Manassas, VA

J.J Roberts
4/15/2006 8:17:35 PM

One more try for today..will try again tomorrow if it doesn't take..or I'll email you Kevin with it tomorrow...JJ Roberts

J.J Roberts
4/15/2006 8:20:14 PM

http://imageevent.com/loveoldstuff/httpimageeventcomloveoldstuff?p=10&n=1&m=12&c=1&l=0&w=4&s=0&z=9

J.J Roberts
4/15/2006 8:22:47 PM

JJ,

Thanks for the idea for the templates. I was able to get to the web site to see the picture.

Kevin

Kevin Monahan
4/15/2006 9:12:29 PM

Kevin..What part of the country do you live? One other suggestion would be to get Ron Smith's new book on Advanced Scroll Design. It is an excellent book for a beginner. Ron takes you through all the steps of scroll design and layout. Keep us posted.

Yours truly,
JJ Roberts-Manassas, VA

J.J Roberts
4/16/2006 6:48:34 AM

I'm in California. I have lloked through the Ron Smith book and plan on ordering it soon.

Thanks,

Kevin

Kevin Monahan
4/16/2006 7:59:07 PM