Hi, my name is John I am a freelance commercial sculptor, illustrator and power carver. A former 10 year veteran of Hasbro toys inc. sculpting. I recently (within the past four monthes) discovered hobo nickels and like every art form that catches my interest I decided to give it a try. My first attempts were done solely with a rotary tool and very tiny bits, I posted the results to my facebook account and one of my friends who does metal work in the jewelry field messaged me and said "let me send you some hand gravers I don't need so you can try those on your nickels" I received the very generous package which had about 10-12 hand gravers, some pitch, a couple of burnishers, and some rubber bullets. So with my new toys in hand I went about producing some vastly improved versions. Since I am freelance (= poor)
they immediately hit ebay to test the waters. Thus far I have sold five for short money of course but money is money to me. Now that I realized the tools were dull I found how much better they cut once sharpened, haha. I posted a bunch of my nickels in the gallery section already if you would like to see my work thus far and comment on it. Having been a vendor for over 20 years I have a thick skin so don't be concerned with stating your opinions
I am sure to have a million questions about everything from technique to a bunch about air gravers but I figured I would let folks get to know me first before starting out like a complete and total noob. I've been an admin on a couple of forums so hopefully I won't hit all those bumps
I like this forum I see a ton of info is already listed and I have a lot to read, so if I ask something that has already been done to death please direct me to the thread I missed. Looking forward to meeting and conversing with you all.
-John