When I’ve watched master engravers in action, like Sam Alfano, I’m consistently amazed by how little effort that they expend to make graceful lines and marks. I often think that it’s like moving pianos. Moving pianos isn’t necessarily about strength, but about leverage.
One thing that doesn’t get talked about enough is slipping and gouging yourself. I think every engraver slips and gouges themselves at some point. Keep that in mind as well. You can do some serious damage to yourself when you slip. That’s another reason to not use all of your strength when engraving.
Yep, right off the bat into that fleshy spot just below my thumb. Now I store my graver points a little further back on the bench until I need them…Rob
Hi,
yay! and then later, you can obsessively collect dover books on lettering!…and monograms!…andalphabet devices…and calligraphy!…and heraldry!…and scrolls!…and and and!
That’s a great book. I have no idea how you came across it. It also reminds us that what people of this forum do on a daily basis is sometimes almost a lost art.
I read a while ago about a watchmaking company (can’t remember if it was JLC or not) a story mentioning the fewer and fewer people participating in the engraving art. Also enamelling is known less and less. These days it gets easier and easier to engrave things with a machine, leading to fewer people learning this skill which also takes a lot of time to perfect.
Now that I brought this up, I also had a discussion recently about contemporary art (it was more about the products we see nowadays, not limited to jewellery). The conclusion we had is that the current art is so abstract and simple not necessarily because those are the principles of contemporary art but more because people are less and less interested in spending years towards learning a skill. People of today want to have it quickly, with least effort if possible. Thus resulting in art pieces that a kid from kindergarten can also achieve when it comes to manufacturing. What do you think?
I love that instead of a graver’s ball, he’s using a small block of wood on top of what looks like a smooth leather sand bag. The sheet metal is probably attached to the wood block with shellac.
I agree! The world seems to be structured more and more in ways where the lifetime accumulation of skill is less valued than before. I heard on a show (may be untrue as I can’t remember the source) that we cannot replicate the goldwork of some ancient cultures.
I often think that the myth that we are always refining and improving blinds us to what we are losing as we change as a culture/society.
When I was young I told my parents I wanted to be able to walk into the woods naked. I wanted to be able to be an animal first. So I learned to make fire with sticks, and attended a school teaching indigenous skills.
Those skills are having a revival now, and it seems that engraving is as well, but there have to be many skills that we will find out are lost at some point.
Yes!!! Me too! I just found her last week. I’ve wanted to engrave for awhile now but they all make it seem like you absolutely have to have power to do it. Not this lady! She’s a bada** and deserves a huge gold star for everything she’s doing. Absolutely love her!
