What is an ideal way to make fine sketches on metal?

[EdwardBinninger]

Hey guys, just wondering if any of you have a solution to make sketches directly on metal for engraving.. For example, when i attempt to sketch on a coin under the microscope the 0.5 HB mechanical pencil lead seems far to large and i smooth it into a finer point with sandpaper but the sketch doesn’t show up on the coin..

My goal is to be able to make very fine sketches under the microscope free-hand on metal:

What is the best way to sketch on metal? Graphite, charcoal, pencil lead, some kind of modified extra-fine point sharpie?

Thanks in advance!

[ArtisticAttributes]

I use a very fine layer of office whiteout solution and pencil most of the time for my nickel carvings, but a carbide scriber pen also works well too. It scratches just enough to see but not enough to remove with very little effort if needed.

[Sam Welch]

Ditto the scribe. I polish the metal to a well worn 600 grit surface to get rid of marks than VERY lightly scribe the design into the metal. Corrections are easy to make by burnishing out the "offending" line and redrawing.

With well polished metal and good lighting a very fine line is easily seen. I use an optivisor instead of 'scope but that should not make a difference.

[Wilfred Valtakis II]

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[Damien Connolly]

Degrease it a little, and spray with white, flat, acrylic primer. I use Krylon. This enables unlimited drawing and erasing, under the microscope, with the fine point pencils you mention. A fairly light coat, and I scribe/engrave right through the paint. It works!

[chujybear]

I feel your pain. That .5 lead looks like an oar under magnification. Even a .2 lead is way too big. I have a few tactics that I employ. The one is probably not that helpful, but it is just accepting the imprecise nature of marking implements and making all final corrections with the graver when I’m putting the lines in.
The other answe is to mark only to your line. That way when you refine with a scrubber, you are not looking to the centre of your lead but one edge of it.

Last one is to mark your centre line with a pen or a sharpie and then when you scribe you are cutting through the black and your line is nice and clear.