Pics of the new engraving station......

[Ed Caffrey]

With all the great advice and photos from you fine folks, I managed to put together something workable for a bench. Here's some photos of what the whole mess looks like....
The first image of the bench......

I scrounge two old closet doors from my Dad (when 1" finished plywood was really 1"!)
The bench is 4' long X 32" deep. I really like the half moon cut-out that I saw in the pics of other's benches and incoroporated that into mine. I had a difficult time deciding what the height should be, since I'm 6'3" and the wife is 5'7" (she has expressed a desire to try her hand at it) so I settled for 30" at the benchtop. The shelves were made from a recycled bookshelf that was bound for the dump. and the vise stand was pieces and parts from my steel pile.



Here's a picture of the vise stand I came up with.......


and finally my first practice plate (don't laugh too loud)


I don't know if it's the correct technique, but I discovered that it was much easier for me to lightly outline the whole image, and then go back over everythng 2-3 times to get a little more depth. Of course you can see that I had "diving" probelms throughout the whole thing...maybe with a couple of years of practice I'll be able to make it look like somthing.
I took the images that out of the Gravermax manual, had the wife copy them for me, and then used acetone to transfer the images onto the practice plate. (Thanks to Rick Eaton for showing me that trick!)

[rhrocker]

Good for you Ed! That's a great looking setup, I'm glad things worked out for you with this. I'm anxious to see some of your engraving, on your knives, shortly. Like anything else, it takes a lot of time in the scope, trying, experimenting, practicing, learning new techniques. I believe you told me the other day that you also do your own leather work, so you're really a "sole-authorship" artist now. You'll enjoy engraving, I sure do. I never did get quite good enough to add engraving to my embellishing procedures, but I plan to start up and try again soon. You've inspired me already!

[mete]

You certainly have been bitten by the engraving bug !! While I've never done so much engraving as to become highly skilled I've been looking at engraving all my life. There are two parts to it .There is the mechanical part where you have to have the dexterity to do it and lots of practice. Then there is the artistic part. Without the artists eye you'll be limited because proper composition and layout can really make a difference .Animals and flowers must look like the real thing. It would be helpful if you took some art courses, primarily drawing. Collect photos of these things too so you always have references. I find I spend a good bit of time drawing and redrawing till I get what I want then the engraving is mostly mechanical.

[mgdesigns]

Ed:

WOW, I am impressed. Great job with the bench design. It looks as though you're well on the way to becoming a bench potato. I like several of the ideas you've incorporated into the design - the crescent cutout for swinging clearance, and the adjustable pedestal, the handpiece holders to the right of the workstation, etc. Looks like an economical solution for a great workstation. Congrats.

Your engraving looks great for a first attempt. Put a date on it, and keep it. A year from now, go back and see just how amazing your progress has been. I have no doubts you'll be doing fine work soon enough.

The swinging of the workpiece has just made a great idea come into my head. I have an antique K&E Drafting Table (made about 1910's) in storage, and it has a solid cast iron base. The cool thing is it has this cast iron wheel in the center under the table that turns an axle with pinion gears on each end. These gears engage a vertical rack on each side, so by loosening the large cast iron wing nuts on the ends of that shaft, and turning the wheel you can raise and lower the table. It then has a ractchet mechanism that prevents the table from inadvertently dropping. That old table may end up becoming my next engraving bench. With a steel adjustable pedestal like yours, I could swing full gun barrels under the table with no problem.


Mark in Nashville, TN

[TexasJack]

Wow, nice setup! Leave it to Ed to not do things half-way!!

Kinda surprised you didn't run an air line to a larger compressor. Doesn't that little unit run constantly when you're working? (No criticism; just curious.)

Its a waste of text to wish you well on this endeavor. We've already seen that you are successful at anything you make up your mind to do. We'll be watching for great things from this bench.

[Ed Caffrey]

I was a little concerned about the compressor too. The unit is the "silent-air" that GRS sells. I knew I wanted the engraving bench in a "clean" area, which meant in the house (basement) so I had to consider how I would run a compressor line from my finsih shop which is about 40 yards (and 10 feet higher) than the engraving bench. With that not being a feasable idea, I knew I had to have an air source that was quiet for use inside the house.
I'm pretty impressed with the little compressor. About all you hear when it kicks on is a hum which is slightly louder than a refrigarator, and it doesn't run nearly as much as I thought it would. It does have a manually switched cooling fan just in case it gets to working too hard, but so far I've only turned on the fan to test it.

Of course I've not gotten into full blown, hours on end sitting at the bench yet, so I guess if I ever reach that level it will get a good workout.

[Julie Coffey]

Ed you've done a good deal in such a short period of time. I'm happy for both you and your wife sounds like many enjoyable hours are yet to come. My only concern if it is one really is if your wife gets bitten by the 'bug' too I see a second set up in your future.

Your vise stand is pretty spiffy how did you come up with that or is it appropriated from a pre-existing piece?

Thanks for the photos. Good to hear about the compressor too very nice little unit. I had to run hose through the floor from the one I have in the basement. Took alot of soul searching before I drilled through tile floor

Julie

[Ed Caffrey]

Hi Julie!

I fabricated the vise stand out of steel that was in the shop. I plasma cut the base and the top platform out, forged the corners of the top to hold the vise base, and the uprights are square tubing. Since square tubing doesn't come in sizes that will fit tightly inside of another, I had to weld a shim of 1/8" mild steel inside the larger tube to get a good fit.

I'm really hoping that Cindy (my wife) gets into the engraving. At one time she did some very nice scrimshaw, but got bored and quit, so I know she's got the talent and ability. Eventhough engraving is really cool, my first love is still being at the forge.

[John B.]

Hello Ed.
I hate to disagree with such a talented gentleman!! You don't need to shim the tubing, though I realize you used the tube that you had in stock in your steel pile. I just mention this for those folks that have to go out and buy the tubing.
The tube to use is trailer hitch tubing. One size is a nice sliding fit inside the other. Its good and heavy and adds weight to the base. The wall thickness is enough to allow you to tap it for adjustment bolts.
I have used a stand-up, adjustable height vise base made out of this for 25 years. It's very much like your's only higher, so that I can circle around it while standing up. It's been used as a demo at the engraving seminar held at Red St Cyr's Blade Hammer-In at Cal-Poly.

I use a cut-off drill press base with an adjustable height crank under my microscope. That way, the microscope head stays at the same, comfortable height and the work easily cranks up or down.

Just a couple of thoughts for people getting engraving stations set up. Your set-up looks great, and I hope you and your wife have many happy hours of engraving.

JohnB.

[Ed Caffrey]

Hi John!

I would have never thought about trailer hitch tubing! That's a wonderful insight! I spend too much time trying to get the steel I need at the steel yard, when I should be thinking in broader terms.

That's why I love these forums so much.....more knowledge than you can shake a stick at, and great folks willing to share it!

[KERRY BOGAN]

Hi Ed
I really like your set-up and your adjustable vise stand, nice job. With square tubing I usually use 1/4" wall thickness for a slide fit. A 2" square tube with a 1/4" wall gives you a 1 1/2" i.d. so an 1 1/2" o.d. square tube usually fits nicely. These are standard sizes at your steel supplier and that's what the trailer hitch guys use.
Keep up the engraving, if I ever figure out how to post a picture I'll post some pictures of my bench and some practice plates.
Post a weekly picture of your practice plates and I'll bet you will be happy with your improvement!