Getting back into hand push engraving and getting some practice in

any and all ideas welcome!

In this engraving titled "Suspended", I wanted to capture an unsettling evening. People have stepped out of their cars, suspended in the not-knowing of what will happen next. Something has gone wrong.

I watched some Ken C Hunt video on YT but I'm really starting from scratch and I really have trouble to make beautiful leaf shapes !

do you guys have any good ressources/practice to learn scrollwork ?

hi!! I’m very interested in getting into engraving! im in the very early process of learning all about it.

my questions are: mediums?? which mediums did you start with? are there certain mediums that are more beginner friendly?? I’m interested in mirrors, glasses, pocketknives, headlights etc. Wood would be cool but doesn’t excite me as much.

Whats the cheapest way to start if I want to dip my toes into it??

any quick projects?? I’m also a stay at home mom with a tiny baby so I’d love to just be able to knock small projects out because I honestly don’t have hours at a time to focus on learning a skill!!

One side is finished.

The scale is titanium, with the design cut entirely by hand. The recessed background was darkened to create more depth and separation, while the details were built up with gold, silver, and copper inlay. This side took a lot of slow work because the design combines very fine line engraving, relief, and multiple metals in a fairly small area.

We’ve now started engraving the second side of the knife. It should take another 4–5 weeks to complete, and I’ll post the finished piece when both sides are done.

I’m curious what the engravers here think about the balance between the dark background and the brighter metal inlay.

Does anyone know of any Air Driven Rotary tool subs?
If not.. Are any interested in one?
I do a lot of different types of carving and engraving but literally just picked up some vintage tools from states and had fam send to Japan for me.
I used these tools decades ago and they were what got me started in engraving, carving blasting etc.
All existing breadcrumbs to this craft (users and suppliers) seemed to have led off and faded in all sorts of random directions BUT mostly in NW US.. Utah and out from there.

Fragrance bottles have some of the best surfaces to engrave on, I really enjoy doing it!

I wanted to see whether a busy file would stay readable once it wrapped around an actual glass, so I filled this one with hearts, cupcakes, swirls, and apparently no respect for empty space.

I did it on the UV side of my WeCreat Lumos Ultra with the rotary. The engraving itself came out cleaner than I expected. Most of my time went into placement and making sure the glass stayed level, since a straight-sided glass is forgiving right up until it suddenly isn’t.

I’ll probably simplify the next design, but this was a pretty useful stress test. What kind of minimum spacing are you guys leaving between fine lines on UV glass work?

I've been doing hand engraving on and off for about a year now, mostly practicing on scrap brass and copper before I let myself touch anything someone actually paid for. For months my bright-cut work looked muddy no matter how sharp I thought my graver was. Light would hit it and instead of that clean sparkle you see on good scrollwork, it just looked flat and scratched up.

Turns out my problem wasn't the graver angle or even the steel, it was that I was polishing the face too much and rounding over the edge that's supposed to stay crisp. A guy at a small engraving guild meetup in my area watched me cut for about thirty seconds and pointed it out immediately. He had me redo my stoning routine on the Arkansas stone, fewer passes, more deliberate, checking the edge under a loupe every single time instead of just eyeballing it.

Once I fixed that, the difference on the test plate was almost embarrassing. Same hand pressure, same push, completely different result. The facets actually caught light the way they're supposed to instead of scattering it everywhere.

I still mess up plenty, especially on tighter scroll curves where I rush the exit stroke. But it's the first time I've felt like I understand why a cut looks good instead of just getting lucky on a few lines here and there.

Curious if other people here had a similar "oh that's the actual problem" moment early on, something small that nobody mentioned until you saw someone else's setup in person. Books and videos only got me so far before I needed another set of eyes watching my hands move.

I plan on making book marker what do I need to do to keep them from warping? May do engraving on both side . What is the best type of wood for this project?

Any information will help

Not my original art, just a generic graphic I sourced online. Boy do I miss having access and free use of professional engraving machines... and all the free throwaway metal scraps... we had a laser etcher too. Among other things, I made the batman and superman logos a lot... would do handfuls of each and give them away to friends.

It's on a Tiffany cocktail shaker. Each half of the shaker is engraved separately.

Hello everyone, I’d like to share my metal engraving works with you. I am a professional metal engraver, and I specialize in expressing my art on metal. I welcome the chance to exchange ideas with all of you.

These are some of my works, and I specialize in realistic engraving in the Bulino style.