As much as computerized technology has come to dominate the engraving industry, sometimes, there's just no better way to do a job, than to dust off the old manual pantograph, roll up your sleeves and do it the old fashioned way.
Here's a job I did the other day. It's the back portion of a highly-polished silverplate photo album. Too thick and too large, to fit in most computerized engraving systems, this is a job for my trusty New Hermes GTX Universal.
Holding an item securely in the machine, is the starting point in any engraving operation, regardless of the technology.
Due to the thickness of the photo album, I'm using a standard set of jigs which are traditionally used for holding serving trays etc. The wooden blocks, which can be placed in a variety of positions, make holding the piece quite easy.
Since the photo album is rectangular in shape and I'll need to access the heart-shapes, in the upper-left and lower-right corners of the album, by placing the vise of the pantograph in a horizontal orientation, ample left-to-right movement is guaranteed.
Silver and silverplate items - especially the highly-polished variety - make for a fragile surface. Even the slightest contact can cause an unattractive surface scratch, or worse. For that reason, I place a piece of cloth between the jig and the album itself.
A wedding is a formal occasion and considering the curvy patterns in the album's design, choosing a typeface is easy. A double-line connecting script will fill the bill nicely.
Some engravers prefer to eyeball the positioning of a line. I prefer to have an advance idea of my placement. Making marks directly to the silverplate with a China marker will create light, but permanent marks. For that reason, I use a low-tack painter's tape and a China marker to determine my line positioning. The reason to use low-tack tape is for easy removal. Additionally, if an aggressive adhesive were used, there's a risk of lifting the silverplate off the item. It happens rarely, but it does happen.
For those of you who have never seen a pantograph in action, here's an overview of the process:
On the upper arm of the pantograph, you'll notice marks similar to those on a ruler. They're used to adjust the letter height. The typeface shown at the bottom of the photo is a master template. The size of an engraved character can be adjusted by ratio, from 2:1 (half the size of the master template) to 7:1 (one 7th the size of the master template).
There are corresponding marks on the adjacent arm of the machine. Match the two ratios and you're ready to go!
The left hand controls the upward and downward movement of the non-rotating diamond spindle to the surface of the substrate. The right hand traces the lines of the template. The pattern is traced a number of times, until a consistent depth and width of the engraved characters is achieved. Don't forget to lift the spindle when moving to a new word :-)
Positioning a line of copy in an irregular-shaped area can be a tricky proposition. You can take your best shot and hope for the best, or you can do what I've done here.
By placing a piece of cellophane tape over the engraving area, the image can be lightly engraved onto the tape. Once you're satisfied with the positioning, remove the tape and engrave directly to the item.
Note: Multiple layers of tape may be necessary, until you develop a feel for how much pressure to exert during the practice pass. Keep one edge of the tape folded back, as a removal tab. Why? If you press the entire piece of tape down to the surface, you're in for a difficult and time-consuming task of removing the tape, which may result in scratching the item.
Another consideration; when dealing with fragile surfaces, many silverplate items use a lacquer coating to prevent tarnishing. Engraving will loosen the coating and show up as dust on the surface of the item.
The lacquer dust may also contain minute remnants of metal, which are likely to mar the surface of the item while wiping with a cloth.
Better: If you have shop (compressed) air, blow the dust off the item before wiping the engraved area. When cleaning, use a soft cloth, but don't wipe too vigorously at first. Lightly dust the item with a cloth, before applying much pressure.
At the bottom of the photo, you'll see a polishing cloth. The inside portion of the cloth is treated with a lightly abrasive polishing rouge. The outside portion is a soft cloth, designed for the final cleanup. Such cloths are available from jeweler supply houses and not very expensive. So durable, they even work well, after they appear ready for the trash heap :-)
I can't say there's nothing to it, because you've seen otherwise, though, there's certainly a sense of accomplishment in working with manual equipment.
The fact that very few engravers in your area are capable of engraving such an item, can lead to increased confidence and that other sense of accompli$hment :-) David "The Stunt Engraver" Lavaneri
DGL Engraving
Port Hueneme, CA |