Engraver tools comes in a variety of shapes and sizes and they are commonly made up of a hardened steel called a burin. Burin is used to cut designs into the surface of metals, most traditionally a copper plate. Engraving is the process of incising a design onto a hard, flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. Engraver tools come in a variety of sizes and shapes that yield different line types. The result may vary upon the kind of engraver and engraving materials that is being used. It may be a decorative object itself, as when gold are engraved, or may provide an intaglio plate when copper is used or even a simple relief print block when woods are engraved.
1. Engraver Tools
If you are thinking about delving into the art of engraving you will need a set of engraver tools and some engraver materials. Purchasing the right engraver tool might be a quite complicated task for beginners. Before buying one make sure that you have already thought about what kind of engraver tools you will be using because there are different kinds of engraver tools that create different kinds of designs. Have a rough list of them when you go to your engraving store.
2. Engraving Tool Types:
The Burin
The most basic engraver tool and you will surely need one of them. Burin produces a distinct quality of line that is recognizable by its steady, deliberate appearance and clean edges.
The Angle Tint Tool
This has a vaguely curled tip that is commonly used in print creation.
Florentine Liners
These are smooth-tipped tools with several lines scored into them that are used to do fill up works on large engraver materials.
Flat Engraver
These are used for doing filling works on letter patterns and musical instruments.
Round Engraver
These are commonly used on metals that are hard to cut; they are also used to do bright cuts on silver materials.
There are numerous kinds of engraver tools out there from square tipped ones to elongated diamond shaped engravers. When purchasing your engraver tool you can also bring in a sketch design of your sample work so that the store that you will be purchasing your tools can guide and give you tip into what kind engraver tools you should buy.
3. Engraving Tips
- If you are into laser engraving and uses laser engraver tools always check the circuit parts of the tool and see to it that it is the same form as seen on the manual
- A laser engraver usually looks like a photocopier that has a clear glass or heat resistant plastic over it
- Check the parts of the machine if it is the same as of what the manual says
- Check for electrical specifications for you might purchase a 110 V laser engraver and plug it on a 220 V circuit that may cause a great deal of damage on your engraver
- If you are purchasing a computer-aided laser engraver, make it sure that the equipment is compatible with the computer that you are using. Because if its not you might just be frustrated on the end results of your design.
- Don’t forget to mail your warranty letter to your engraver manufacturer
- Check if their customer service number is working so in case of minor technical problems you can just call their service hotline for some troubleshooting advices.
4. Test It First
When purchasing your engraver tools, don't forget to test them on different materials first. Some of them might already be dull due to the length of time they have been stored in the shop or maybe there was a manufacturers defect. When buying an engraver tool kit, usually an all-in-one pack of different engraver tool make sure that the tamper sticker are still on the box. Also check if the tools that you are about to purchase are still in one piece. Various engraver shops have testing booths inside their stores where you can test your equipments, but if ever they don’t have one there wouldn’t be any harm in asking for even just a piece of wood to test it on.