Full set of 'finished' Onglette gravers!

Hi all !

B"H

if anyone wishes to purchase a full set of 5 finished and polished
gravers…please contact me…I do all of the grinding, polishing,
supplying of handles and along with this a full complementary
"mini-text book" of on ‘Rough-Cutting’, and as well as
"Bright-Cutting"…with each request, a donation to our fantastic
Orchid will be made in your own name…

Gerry!

Dear purchasers of my gravers!

Between indiviually grinding each graver to my own specifications,
printing of additonal text sheets of ‘setting notes’…Burning of
2CD’s…and the mailing & delivery to your own office…the time
factor is at least minimum 2 weeks after receiving the funds.

Then in this case, a few days ago another shipping delay-problem, I
am now waiting for at least a full 7-8 days for all of my gravers
being ‘back-ordered’. Don’t blame me if you are waiting for these
items of “fun and merriment”… Sometimes things are totally out of my
control…I have 5 more packages to send
out…waiting…waiting…waiting…and more waiting!..:>)…

Gerry!

I just received my set of onglette gravers from Gerald. To say I am
impressed is an understatement. They are beautiful. The best money I
have spent on tools in a long while.

I do not use the wooden graver handles. I use the GRS Thermo-loc
handles from Stuller or Rio, part number 004-008. They allow an
adjustment after the graver is inserted in the handle and the set
comes in 4 colored handles for easy identification as to type.

I recommend these gravers highly.

A few weeks ago when Gerry Lewy made the offer to supply custom
gravers I jumped at the chance. My reasoning was to start off
learning this skill in the best fashion–get good tools from someone
who really does know how to use them…

Today my gravers arrived with a load of printed and two
CD’s. One is chock full of more printed of the most
esoteric type and the second is an excellent video of procedures to
sharpen a graver… Bonus!! Along the way Gerry has contacted me by
phone and several emails to answer some of my questions and even
going as far as to take several photos to explain a point in greater
detail. He has been good to his word and when I get stuck on a
problem using the gravers I know he’ll be a reliable resource. The
talent he is willing to share helps to make Orchid a great forum.

J Collier
Small Scale Metalsmith

Hi all, on Orchid!

B"H

I have been asked many times to describe what a “pre-ground” graver
is. When you go into a tool supply store, you will see gravers with a
roughly bevelled front-edge. You cannot work with these at all, they
have to be then shaped and hand polished on “Emery” and "Polishing"
papers…I once went to a client and his words were “why can’t I cut
with these gravers?”…I took one looked at them and replied “no
wonder you can’t…they have not been shaped for any setting or
cutting purposes”.

You will not find ANY GRAVER in any tool outlet ready for immediate
usage…I am offering you this priveledge in making available this
finely tuned graver for instant use…no addtional shaping is
necessary!!!

Along with these 5 gravers all in the “Onglette” shape…you will
receive special instructions on how each graver is to be used. Not
too mention 156 pages of setting notes on a CD, a seperate CD video
(of my own making) on how to grind these little times!

Not too mention more typed essays on different aspects of setting
USING GRAVERS…Each graver will arrive to your bench in a seperate
container signifying it’s potential use, no guessing for you, at
all! Every jeweller must have a set on his/her bench they all come in
handy…but they must be shaped beforehand!. if not, they will sit
and not be serving their sole pupose.

Gravers must be hand-ground or modified, and not by any machine. With
out this delicate hand carving/shaping no graver can effectively be
used…All engravers/setters learn this one year process in their
apprenticeship years, but never teach this to anyone. My set of 5
Onglette gravers is only $109.75, plus a addtional fee for postage
of only $10.00…by Paypal…(enuf said!)…

Gerry!

Gerry

for many years I have received your notes, and tips. They are truly
a gift to the jewelery community and your generosity is overwhelming
at supplying the copious amounts of photocopies and posting, etc. BUT
I have also used gravers before I met you via Orchid. I have
successfully ground them on a non mechanized wheel and then onto a
power hone (before it met an ill-fated death by water!) with
equally successful results for 30 years of grinding them. They can
most certainly be shaped by machine. Hand polishing at this point is
also equally as mirror finished whether by a 3Mpolishing paper,
crocus cloth, glass cloth, emery, or by any number of compounds on
any number of different buffing wheels of various materials and
sewing’s and cores to produce a mirror finish on whatever the
material the specific graver in hand is made of regardless of how the
mirror finish is achieved. by hand or machine both shine the same,
and the finish lasts the same.

Yes it is valuable to know how to do these things by hand. .if not
critical at a point in ones complete education as a jewelry
professional, however. .when time becomes a factor, and as All
gravers must be repeatedly sharpened to retain their cutting edges.
.particularly if stone setting. I know I read that in your onglette
notes, and many many books and magazine articles on the subject all
attesting to the necessity of continual sharpening. So they can be
shaped by hand and machine, and polished by hand and machine, and
sharpened while in use with stone, polishing papers, power hone or
whatever the means one employs to keep them true, sharp, mirror
finished and in good service. It matters not whether done by hand or
machine assisted prior to the constant sharpening they all need when
in use in any application. I don’t want beginners to think there is
only one way to do anything -particularly an art or creative
process- there are as many ways to execute things as artists , once
one has a thorough knowledge of the basics- in this case how to form
and sharpen a graver for use in setting, engraving, printmaking, etc.
The toys that are sold to expedite the maintenance come later. but
are none-the-less equally valuable and with the same results
possible.

R. E. Rourke

Gerry,

I took a class in stone setting and I will tell you one thing.
Preparing those suckers is a real job and I never got all of them
finished. I would be GLAD to buy your set, and will order one next
month!

Thanks for making those available for the jewelry community!!

Susan

Dear All

When I send out my sets of 5 ‘finished’ gravers, I have just no idea
how they are to be receive. Often I get emails attesting to their
great results. Many are overcome with happiness and simple joy, with
the their new found knowledge…To me this is ‘another form of
payment’. Out of the 33 sets of gravers since I’ve started, I am
awe-struck with the absolute satisfaction from the recipients. When I
am personally hunched over my bench-grinder at my home base, I put a
little bit of myself into each graver…:>)

I said to my daughter this evening, do you realize how many folks
are involved in this simple mailing exercise? The original graver
blade manufacturers, the local tool suppliers, myself, the printing
company of the setting notes, the postal office, the final delivery
mailperson, the actual receivers of these tools…Each and everyone
of these people ‘are being touched’ from all of this…good will…

It is not one person, but many who are now being involved…and
never forget those in this “act of kindness”. We take so much for
granted in this busy life we lead, the “ripple effect” is almost
endless!..From all of them, they too, say ‘thank you’…

Gerry!

Gerry,

Don’t forget the person who is lucky enough to purchase a piece made
with these fantastic gravers. And if it is a gift then it touches
the giver and the receiver.

=)
Michelle
Decolletage Jewels

Dear all

I received a letter from a friend in the UK and she asked why did I
start this whole graver shaping program? Plus, what started me on
this venture? I always wanted to think out side of the proverbial
‘box’ and think laterally…

My close jeweller friend in the USA suggested I look into making up a
set of gravers and sell on our web-forum called Polygon.net. called
“Gerry’s Gravers” I asked “who in their right mind would buy them?”.
He said “Gerry, if you cut them for me…I’ll order 10 gravers and
post a few messages on “Polygon” for ya”. So I looked around for the
‘best’ gravers in this city of Toronto, and thought for a
moment…why not look into our “Orchid”??..well the rest is
history.

As of today I have sent out about 34 ‘sets’ or about 170 individual
gravers internationally. If no one had the simple idea of doing this,
why not who else but me? I simply want everyone to get to know these
5 little setting ‘friends’

Here is the answer “why gravers?” to me this is one of the most
dirtiest, simply mind numbing processes in stone setting. I used to
spend about 1/2 hour many decades ago, trying to grind one single
graver…now it takes me about 7-8 minutes…My other situation was
what else should I send in this package. So right now, each package
weighs about.245 kgs. of fun stuff and 27 printed pages to read and
156 more pages on my CD’s. Plus a graver shaping video with
background music from Mozart to accompany the speaker and good
graphics!

I hope that this letter enlightened you in my reasons to forge ahead
and do this graver thing. I am to send letters out to 153 jewelery
art schools in America promoting my gravers…

Gerry!

Dear all !

Just sent off some more gravers and CD’s of setting notes to UK,
Texas, Australia and now even South Korea. I have totally revamped
the whole package to include 2 CD’s of videos on setting and grinding
gravers, over 600 pages of notes and essays, plus hundreds of
pictures of my setting still in the process of completion…Not too
mention, more essays not seen before and another folder of past
Orchid notes and other techiniques…No wonder the format of a CD is
much more easy to mail out…for a total of 4.5 GB’s of very
worthwhile .anyone care to ask how much all of this is
worth…including shipping?..$85.00.

Gerry!