Thanks Guys
haddockkl
I cut the nicks with a graver and the dots are done with a center punch.
To those who say they can't engrave all I can say is "If I can engrave you can engrave" .It's really a matter of consistently sharpened gravers (Lindsay templates are super for solving this problem) and practice,practice and more practice.I struggle with my engraving and only recently committed myself to improving.To improve that means practicing on a regular basis.While I'll never be a "good" engraver in the modern sense my personal goal is to be as good as I can be.This will allow me to do beliveable 18th Century engraving.
If you want to engrave bad enough just do it and do it some more.The more you practice the more you will be able to.....
I've included below a pic of my first attempt at engraving a patchbox for contrast
Mitch