Subject: Engraving brass sundials

From: [email-masked]
Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 05:31:22 GMT

Hi all,

I've just discovered this newsgroup tonight.  It seems to be
full of nice, knowledgeable people.  It also seems to have a
good "signal to noise" ratio (good info vs. spam).

This is the first time I've ever tried posting to a
newsgroup so I hope this works.

My interest is sundials.  Of late, I have been wanting to
make a brass sundial and engrave it by hand.  Unfortunately,
I haven't had much success in finding out about the
different kinds of brass or which types of brass are most
suitable for hand engraving.  I'm also hoping someone in
this newsgroup can provide me with a source of books,
cassettes or videos that teach engraving.  Also, a supplier
of hand engraving tools would be nice to hear about as well.

Thanks for taking time to read this and thanks especially
for any and all replys I may receive.

Charles

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From: Regis Galbach <[email-masked]>
Date: 14 Dec 1996 13:55:30 GMT

>for any and all replys I may receive.
What size do you plan on making your sundial?  I've seen cast but not 
machined sundials.  You can find hand engraving tools in most of the 
jewelry tool/supply catalogs like Rio Grande, Indian Jewelry 
Supply(800)545-6540, or Swest(800)527-5057.  Sorry I don't have the Rio 
Grand # right at hand. 

Good Luck,
Regis

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From: [email-masked]
Date: 14 Dec 1996 16:25:50 GMT

>for any and all replys I may receive.

Hey Fitch, this sounds like a job for CNC! :)>

Sorry I can't help with engraving brass but as a young apprentice in the
glassworks that made bottles I routinely engraved cast iron. We used 3/16
diameter High Speed Steel tool blanks. They were butt welded to 3/16
diameter drill rod making an overall length of about 10". We then ground
the HSS to a chisel point or a vee point. Using a small hammer, about 6 or
8 oz we would tap our way around a line left by using typist's carbon
paper and an original tracing.

Another place to start for more info might be in books that relate to
engraving guns. That is still done using the same style of chisels as we
used. Costs an arm and a leg to buy the chisels, but perhaps buy a couple
of different style and then copy them with the HSS and drill rod technique
above.

If you have no luck, I can sharpen a couple of pieces of 3/16 steel in the
fashion of the chisels we used and mail them to you. You could use them as
a visual guide to make your own out of HSS. Private email your address if
you like.

Peter

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From: Dan F Evans <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 13:03:10 -0700

> for any and all replys I may receive.

Consider chemical etching for this too.  This is done by coating the
brass with a waterproof resist, and scraping it away where you want the
pattern.  The brass is then soaked in a ferric chloride solution to etch
the pattern.  

If you use a photo resist, you can make reusable patterns that aren't
limited by the constraint of engraving tools. It isn't as expensive as
you might think.  

There are a few web sites that describe this.  Here's one:

http://phoenix.bath.ac.uk/~justinw/two_mm/etch/etch.html

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From: [email-masked] (James P. Riser)
Date: 15 Dec 1996 02:47:31 GMT

Charles;
The engraving tools are called "gravers".  They come in a wide variety of
shapes.  Before choosing gravers you might want to read up a bit on the
subject.  Three of my books are:
General Letter Engraving by Whelpley copyright 1890! (I picked this up at
a used book store - I'm not really that old);  The Jewelry Engravers
Manual by R. Allen Hardy copyright 1976; and Engraving on Precious Metals
by A. Brittain, S.Wolpert, and P. Morton copyright 1958.

The gravers are purchased without handles and usually too long for
practical use.  Most engravers break off the extra length, then sharpen as
needed.  You would want to obtain a sharpening fixture.  Many gravers are
bent or curved to give hand clearance when engraving on flat objects like
clock dials.  They are used with wooden "mushroom" shaped handles -
usually with a flat to keep from rolling off the bench.  The last book
especially details sharpening and mounting in handles, etc.  I've got over
70 gravers; but you could probably do a brass clock dial with just a
handfull - depending on how detailed you wanted to be.  Many production
engravers use a GraverMaster or GraverMax as the motive force.  Both are
foot controlled miniature pneumatic hammers which chuck the gravers. 
Since I live in Tucson home of the annual Tucson Gem and Mineral Show, I
am able to see vendors of such goodies every February.  I do know that Rio
Grande in Albq. New Mexico will have everything you need - including the
brass probably.

Good luck and I hope this helps.

Jim

-- 
James P. Riser
Home page:  http://www.azstarnet.com/~jriser

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From: Mark Winlund <[email-masked]>
Date: 15 Dec 1996 03:55:14 GMT

Try Casmate and Enroute along with a CNC mill. Software by Scanvec. Does a marvelous 
job of 3d engraving any graphic image.

Regards, Mark

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From: [email-masked]
Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 05:39:57 GMT

Many thanks to all who responded to my request for
information regarding engraving brass sundials.

The dial I have in mind to make will be 8 to 10 inches in
diameter.

Charles