Hi,
It came out OK for a first go but you need to practice even cuts. I understand that there is a real urge to engrave scrolls and curves but to become a competent engraver you must practice straight even lines and then parallel lines. That will force you to learn tool control much better than scrolls.
dave
What would you practice on? Just brass sheet? I tried holding the graver with 2 fingers like Shippers does, but I find holding it in 3 fingers and engraving right to left more natural.
Yes,
get some brass sheet and practice, practice. Scrap brass can be found, or order some sheet from one of the suppliers. .040 or .045 thick will work, and you can practice on both sides.
I'm a beginning engraver myself, and so I am super critical of my own work and can see many of the errors I make in your patch box.
Yours looks decent from a distance, and is a good first effort. When you look closer, you can see variances in depth, and straight-ish lines (or uneven curves) where there should be smooth curves. The slightly awkward curves could be due to your engraving skill, or your drawing of the design. Hard to tell after the fact.
This is not meant to be over-critical, just constructive. If you look through the ALR archives, you will see examples of very good engraving, and also not very good engraving. What nearly all of them share is a good design. On the not so good engraving, the errors apparent are often similar to your errors, but smaller: however, the overall design in still pleasing to the eye, despite the small errors in execution.
Be proud of what you did, and then practice!
Cheers,
Norm
