A New Guy with a dream....

[JayCanale]

Hello All,
I would like to introduce myself to the engraving forum. My name is Jay Canale. I have been a jeweler/goldsmith for the last 26 years and during that time I have always wanted to learn hand engraving. I have looked over the gallery section of this forum and I hope I can become at least 1/4 of an engraver compared to the people here. I am so impressed with all your work it just blows my mind.

Anyways, I am happy to be here and hopefully with time I will meet some great people and learn a ton of experience.

Thank you,

Jay

[Daniel Houwer]

Welcome Jay.

One word of advise, believe everything they say about not regretting the purchase of a Lindsay Palmcontole Airgraver! It's amazing
Working with the Lindsay is very close to heaven! I did not know for sure whenn I bought mine but listening to the experts and my own experience with the gravemax made me by the palmcontrole airgraver.

Beware, I am loosing sleep!!! Just want to engrave.

Greetings,

Daniel.

Goldsmith as well and starting to engrave.

[kcrutcher]

Welcome Jay

I purchased a complete GRS system (about twelve thousand dollars 1970's prices) about thirty five years ago.

I was so disappointed with my performance with that equipment I put It down, only to be picked up recently after finding this forum and learning how to properly sharpen the tools.

Now I am having trouble convincing my wife I need to spend more money for a toy I did not use.

Do yourself a favor and go to the class, learn all you can, but purchase a lindsay graver and sharpening system.

I am a long way from being an engraver (a seventy two year old beginner with thirty five years experience) but I have been around long enough to see the benefit of Steve's Tools.

You will not be sorry.

Kenneth Crutcher

[JayCanale]

Kenneth,

Looking over a lot of the posts on this forum it looks like most people feel that the Lindsay way is the way to go. How much money is a beginner looking to spend just to start up small?

Jay

[jack]

Jay: I too am a jeweler of almost 50 years. I love good tools that do many different jobs faster and makes the bench work better. You look at what you need to buy with GRS and what you need to buy with Lindsay. But the great thing is you do not need a compressor with Lindsay. A co2 will do the job, and you can take it over to the jewerly bench any time you want to do some bright cutting on setting. I started with GRS and think there equipment is really good. I went with Lindsay a long time ago because the classic just fit my hand better. I didn't need 4 different gravers on the bench to one job. If I was you, I would give the GRS equipment a try and then call Steve and get a classic sent to you to try. Lindsay is one great guy to work with and will give you the best of service and suggestions for this engraving stuff. Remember you are talking to a master engraver when you talk to Steve. Jack

[SVD]

Jay,

My situation is somewhat similar to yours, but a bit further along.

I'm not a jeweler, although I've made a bit of jewelery now and again, along with various other artistic / crafty things. Mostly I do/did computers and Photography.

In 2005 my ever-indulgent wife let me go to the BLADE show as our vacation. Lots of fun and tons of neat things to look at.

After the BLADE show the engraved knives in the magazines kept catching my eye, as well as the few other bits of engraving most folks see.

Didn't get to go to BLADE in 2006, but in 2007 we went to both the NRA Annual Meeting and the BLADE show. I had discussed with the ever-indulgent wife the fact that engraving was intriguing me and our plan was to see about getting some gear if not too expensive.

So, at the 2007 BLADE show the minute the door opened we went straight... to Pat Crawford's booth. In 2005 I just missed getting one of his Survival Staffs so I took care of that first thing. Then we spent 15-20 minutes looking at things and discussing what I'd need to get started. The ever-indulgent decided we could afford it so I got a good basic startup set (went with just an OptiVisor for magnification which just about cuts your starting costs in half). After buying a setup I played with the booth gear. Fortunately it seemed like I could in fact, engrave, albeit very poorly. Still, not bad for never having touched a graver before.

In talking with all the fine friendly folks at BLADE I got tons of good advice - including pointers to the web forums.

Took a week or so for my toys to arrive, during which time I cleared a space in the garage and built a bench. Got my stuff, got it set up, and started doing a bit of playing about. This was June 26th or 28th of last year.

For Valentine's Day my ever-indulgent wife got me the Ron Smith self-study course with his two books on Scroll Design. Currently working through the second one and once again I'm getting major improvements.

Now to date I'm very happy with my equipment . Haven't yet run into a situation where the equipment was a limiting factor. Had a few times where I could have definitely used better magnification than my OptiVisors, but mostly any problem I have is just me.

But I'll tell you one thing I definitely noticed at the BLADE show: there were at least a half-dozen folks there doing engraving. The ability to take an entire engraving setup in one toolbox* is just one reason I want to get a Lindsay system when I can. Pure, unadulterated lust for fine made tools is another part, of course.

*Yeah, it'd be a heavy toolbox if you include a ball vise, and if you want to go with a scope instead of a visor it'll be a darn big one, but it's still a lot smaller than if you have to include a compressor.

Oh yeah, to answer the quesiton in your last post, based on my experience you'll probably have to spend $3,000 - $5,000+ depending on what you have and what you want. If you already have everything but the actual engraving equipment then it's a lot cheaper but if you're starting totatly from scratch you need a few more 'things'. Sounds kind of daunting but from what I've seen the few people who decide to sell their equipment (either kind) come out alright.

[Steve Lindsay]

Originally Posted by JayCanale

Kenneth,

Looking over a lot of the posts on this forum it looks like most people feel that the Lindsay way is the way to go. How much money is a beginner looking to spend just to start up small?

Jay

Welcome Jay :seeya:

Here is a link to the schools page. These schools have all brands of equipment including the PalmControl. This allows students to become familiar with all the brands on the market so that they can decide what works best for them.

A startup Classic AirGraver with pedal and controller is $1174. You'd also need a vise, scope or optivisor and compressor or co2. The Classic with a pedal can be updated to PalmControl later. A PalmControl can also be ran with a foot pedal too. There is a 45 day return trial on the equipment to make sure customers are happy with the tools.

Again welcome. I hope the forum will be of help in your learning.

Steve

[mckeenh]

Welcome Jay, good to have you aboard. Power gravers are a big boon to engraving, the most important thing to do is learn to sharpen your tools correctly. If you have poorly sharpened tools you will never get anywhere. As far a a compressor You do not have to spend alot of money to have one. I have a makita that is a slow speed compressor and is fairly quiet and I bought it fo 160.00. Senco makes a small one that is even quieter and costs even less. Good luck with your engraving.

Neil:yesnod: .