Engraving

[Ephraim]

What do you use to lube your gravers?  Or do you engrave dry.
Ephraim

[Acer Saccharum]

I keep a little cotton ball soaked in cutting oil in a soda bottle cap. just poke the graver tip in the cotton every so often. That's for steel.
For brass and silver: no lube needed.

[kutter]

I've tried a couple different graver lubes over the years, but gave up on them. Not that they didn't work, but because I found I wasn't consistant about using them. I just forgot about them and went on cutting after a while. It seemed a pain to stop every so often,,and so I didn't.

I think the last I used was the stuff that N-Graver sells or sold. That was years ago.
A guy I used to work with that did alot of jewelry engraving used 'oil of wintergreen' and swore by it.
The cotton ball damp with lube  & placed in an up side down bottle cap works well.

It is of more help when working on gold (and copper, brass, silver) than steel. The gravers(especially the cheaper carbon steel ones) have a tendency to 'stick' or cold weld to the non-ferris material and the lube reduces that.
Work over a piece of gold or copper with a graver w/o lube and then look a the point and it'll have the gold or copper color on it.
But I still have gone w/o using it for years on both steel and the inlay metals w/o problems.
Another reason I didn't like it was if I was cutting lines to be inlayed, the graver lube was left behind in the cuts however sparce and needed to be cleaned up before inlaying gold, silver, ect.
Just an extra step.

The denser the graver material, the less the need for a lube. Carbide doesn't seem to benefit from it but I usually polish those higher than say Mo-Max or Cobalt.

[David Rase]

I have a cotton ball stuffed in a .38 case that has been moistened with Tri-Flow lubricant.  I just dip my engraving point into the cotton ball.
Dave

[smart dog]

Hi Ephraim,
I use Bur-Life liquid from Rio Grande to lubricate my gravers when cutting steel.  Instead of a cotton ball, I soak a couple of linen patches in the oil and place them in a small jar cap.  The firmer surface of the linen backed by the jar cap linen allows me to wipe clean the graver tip of dirt and chips every time I dip it into the oiled linen.

dave 

[Acer Saccharum]

A high polish on the tool reduces the need to use lube.

I often don't use lube at all, only remember to use it when I'm in ornery metal.

Tom

[Ephraim]

Thanks guys I have always used linseed oil but wanted to try something new.
Ephraim

[Tom Cooper]

I use a cotton ball stuffed in a film container soaked with cutting oil.

[tallbear]

I took an engraving class from Wallace Gusler.Wallace recommends spit.His reasoning is that since most longrifle furniture is engraved on the gun he didn't want the oil to contaminate the stock wood  possible affecting the final stain and finish.Just wet the end of the graver in your mouth before each cut.

Mitch

[docone]

I have found Oil of Wintergreen to be helpful.
I mostly use it in stone setting, but, it helps on "sticky" engraving.
Smells good also.

[Acer Saccharum]

Just wet the end of the graver in your mouth before each cut.

WHA?

Just to clarify:
If 'dipped' into oil dampened cotton or wool, it's not dripping or runny, there is hardly oil you can see on the graver. It's a microscopic film.  The quantity of oil is not enough to build up or soak into anything.

[tallbear]

WHA?

Just passing along some information,take from it what you will

Mitch

[JCKelly]

I appreciate this topic.
Never knew one should use lube when engraving. Yeah, I shoulda but di'n't.
Will try one or t'other lube, next time I try to remind my hands how to engrave a brass doojiggy.

[Ephraim]

In the film of Gusler he was using linseed oil.
Ephraim

[Acer Saccharum]

you really don't need lube very often, in my experience.
Sterling Silver, no lube
some brass alloy is the worst stuff in the world to cut, and others cut like sterling silver. Sometimes lube, most often, no.
mild steel, cuts like buttah, no lube required, but may be used.
Alloy steel, tempered steel, lube is required, cobalt cutting tools last much longer than HHS.
gold cuts best with highly polished CARBIDE gravers, gold sticks to steel gravers.

[DB]

Anyone use olive oil?

[Acer Saccharum]

Olive will work. As will almost any oil.

Some cutting oils, however, have an advantage in additives that increase lubricity under extreme pressure. Sulphur and molybdenum disulphide are a couple.  You don't want to get this stuff on your skin for prolonged periods.

Of course, if you are just dampening the tip of the engraver, you don't really contact the oil.

T