John, thought I would thank you for sending me the Buff, and let you see what I did with it, Thanks again buddy, BLH

Barry Lee Hands
12/11/2005 4:52:04 PM

You're welcome Barry.
Outstanding job..... one mean looking guy!
That sure didn't take you long to complete the whole floorplate.
Bye the way Barry, I hope you post a picture of it lifesize to give some of the folks an idea how great it aso looks in real life, to the naked eye.
Merry Christmas to you and all the other Metal Peckers.
John.

John Barraclough
12/11/2005 5:59:23 PM

Ok, here is a teeny one. It took longer than I expected, I started it friday, inlayed the borders,inlayed the gold buff, noticed some teeth poking through, so I tore it out, dug a little deeper, reinstalled the gold, engraved the scrollwork, then etched the scene, and inlayed the cartouche, then punched up and bulino'd the buff.
thanks John, merry xmas

Barry Lee Hands
12/11/2005 6:41:04 PM

nice work Barry .I do like your scroll work . and thanks for sharing your work with us .. Ron

Ron Nott
12/11/2005 9:30:26 PM

Hey, Barry.
I've had a couple of those wayward burrs myself over the years and have devised a couple of methods to deal with them which don't require digging out the gold.
I expect you know about them, but let me know if you or anyone else needs this information.
I really like the small picture, thank you for posting it.
John

John Barraclough
12/12/2005 7:21:27 PM

You should post your methods, maybe we will learn new ways to get rid of burrs. I have a few myself, but I had too many to attack one at a time, the cavity was big enough, I just raised them too high, and well, hehe...

Barry Lee Hands
12/13/2005 11:43:58 AM

Heres another for ya, did this yesterday,It is a wolf hunting at night on spring snow with a snow covered tree and clouds and a moon. etched the background in four layers, then Bulino'd the wolf, then cut the scroll and stippled the paw prints.

Barry Lee Hands
12/14/2005 4:18:19 PM

Barry, You made it sound like it only took you one day to complete the "Wolf Hunting in Snow" floorplate. Maybe you meant that you finished it yesterday. In either case I'm sure you’re faster than I am. Now for my question. Would you consider starting another tread on this forum explaining the etching process with maybe some step by step pictures. Kind of like a tutorial. I know that etching is not engraving but it is a form of fine embellishment, and I would hope that others would not mind it being shown here. Stuff like what do you use for blocking out what you don't want to be etched. What chemicals do you use? What safety precautions are needed to protect yourself and other furnishings from being injured? How is the chemical applied? Ect.
I guess I'm just curious. Also I wonder what other people think of this idea.

Mike


Mike Bissell
12/15/2005 10:59:00 AM

Mike, I did finish it in about 6 hours for the whole thing, And I will be glad to explain etching as soon as I have a little time to do so.
As to speed, I was trained as an apprentice in a shop under a couple of "Masters". I know fega does not recognize the term, so I put it in quotes. We were trained and shown by example that the best engravers are often the fastest. The speed vs quality thing is always tough, and we were expected to work at our highest level possible, in regards to quality, at a fast pace. I feel I was very fortunate to be trained in this manner.
The best advice I have heard on speed is "keep the chisel in the steel"

Barry Lee Hands
12/15/2005 1:53:09 PM

Mike i agree with you ,i too would like to see how it is done .. ron

Ron Nott
12/15/2005 8:38:52 PM