tsterling

Hi Cliff, Here's a link to a small tutorial I made on how I create and roll my shibuichi: Part 1 - http://sterlingsculptures.com/wp/?p=1266 Part 2 - http://sterlingsculptures.com/wp/?p=1277 Hope it's helpful! Tom

Birchwood Casey Super Blue (gun bluing), available at any place that sells firearms. Paint on bare metal after good cleaning, neutralize with household ammonia when the brass is as dark as you want.

http://www.northwestpitchworks.com

In my press forming adventures I always get those wrinkes. I stop pressing before the wrinkles get too convoluted and hammer them flat on the anvil, anneal the sheet, and then press again. Rinse, lather, repeat as required. My pressing is lots smaller than yours, but the same principles are at work. Here's a link to the beginning of a long tutorial on my method of press forming: http://sterlingsculptures.com/wp/?p=2143 Good luck! Tom

Hi Elemental, You can see my anti-scale method here: http://sterlingsculptures.com/wp/?p=233 - It's about halfway down the page. Basically I use an old jeweler's trick where I half fill a small bottle with boric acid (I get mine from Ace hardware store), then fill the container with alcohol (rubbing or wood alcohol). The alcohol burns off leaving a layer of the boric acid behind, which will melt during heat treating and make a layer of flux, keeping a lot of the oxygen away from the steel. I apply it several times to leave a fairly thick white crust behind, then heat treat. Tom.

Thanks for the kind words, guys. Hope the tutorials are helpful. Tom

Hi Quint, I always try to engrave before heat treatment. Any engraving I do after heat treating is in areas that weren't hardened. I use an anti-scale treatment to keep the worst of the scale buildup away from already engraved areas. Tom

Glenn asked me to upload a couple of tutorials I made a while back that might be useful for beginning bladesmiths. The first is a basic blacksmith's knife (a little light in heat treating information) made with pretty basic tooling, and the second is how I produce my signature "Knapped Stone" look steel blades. Hope they're helpful, folks! Tom Blacksmith_Knife_Project.pdf Knapped_Steel_Neck_Knife_Tutorial.pdf

Thanks for the kind words, guys! Here are two more tutorials relating to knife engraving that Glenn asked me to upload. There's also a little bit of kinfemaking in them as well. Hope they are of use! Carving_Steel_Tutorial.pdf Puget_Sound_Dagger_Tutorial.pdf

i Folks, Here's a PDF of my Simple Engraving for Knifemakers Tutorial for download: Simple_Engraving_for_Knifemakers.pdf Sorry, it's 7.3 MBytes, so if you're on a soda straw connection it might be time to go get some coffee..... :wub: Hope it is helpful, and Thanks for Looking!

I finished the tutorial and hosted it over on Bladesmith's Form. It's titled Simple Engraving for Knifemakers, here's the link: http://forums.dfoggknives.com/index.php?showtopic=24166&pid=227557&st=0&#entry227557 Hope it helps! Tom

OK guys, I'll get started on a "simple" tutorial.. In the meantime, you can get started by studying this link for the Lindsay sharpening templates: http://www.engravingschool.com/private/Lindsay%20Sharpener.htm There's also a good video on the same page. Tom

Only two people interested? Last call...

You're welcome, Sam. I hope this info is helpful. I've been musing about making a tutorial using the methods I've described here and oriented towards SIMPLE engraving for bladesmiths (like decorative transitions from ricasso to blade), if there is enough interest. Since it would be oriented towards bladesmithing, I'd probably host it over on Bladesmith's Forum, but the techniques would have potential for any metal art. Sam, I was just looking at your steel skull avatar (readers, see the avatar in the post above this one) - that would be a perfect example useful for SIMPLE engraving if it was the size of a quarter ($0.25 coin) or smaller, engraving the eyes, nose, teeth, or even the outlines if it was on a non-skull shaped piece of metal. That's the level of detail I'm talking about for SIMPLE engraving...and making simple versions of the tools and holding fixtures needed, with PURCHASED sharpening items and graver blanks. At least that would tell a guy if he/she has sufficient interest to continue on along a much longer and more disciplined path (and more expensive). Anybody interested?

You're missing the point of the HSS. The benefit of HSS isn't so much in the using, it's in the sharpening and not ruining the temper due to heat build-up from a rotating diamond disk. The point of a graver is a tiny thing, it doesn't take much heat to ruin the temper. It is not a cold chisel. Plus, HSS comes ready to use - you don't do any heat treatment. There are lots of ways to make and sharpen a graver. Some of the best engravers could sharpen a nail on the sidewalk and create a masterpiece. What I have tried to do here (apparently unsuccessfully) is show the simplest, most inexpensive but also foolproof method of doing the one thing in engraving you MUST do well to be successful. If you feel you simply have to strike out on your own to rediscover fire and reinvent the wheel, knock yourself out. I prefer to engrave rather than do R&D.