FEGA Bulino Tape Revisted

[KERRY BOGAN]

Ray
Thanks for all the great information and I know this sounds dense on my part but could you post a sketch of the tool angles the way you sharpen for bulino?

[Ray Cover Jr]

Kerry,

If you look at Austin's first drawing above he has the graver sitting vertical on one corner and he has it raised 12 degrees. If you turn that 45 degrees in either direction it will be sitting on one of the flat sides instead of the corner.

What you want to do is turn it 50 degrees so you go 5 degrees past it being flat on one side. Raise the butt end 12 degrees and grind it. Then turn it 50 degrees past vertical on the other direction and grind it. That will give you an 80 degree graver with a compound belly.

You want to grind a 50 degree face on that.

Ray

[Bill Brockway]

Ray -

Thanks for posting all this valuable information on your techniques in bulino. The work, by the way, is exquisite. What is the subject shown in the latest bulino? Leda and the swan? And what are the materials? Look like steel with gold inlay. Just beautiful.

Bill

[Ray Cover Jr]

Bill,

Thanks for the compliments. The theme is Leda and the Swan. I hope to have this finished up by weeks end. I will post pics of the finished engraving when its all done. I will try to post close ups of various areas where I used different crosshatching/dot techniques so people can see the ways I cut them for different textures.

Ray

[HermanKnives]

I still dont understand the no heel bit either. Why not put a heel on it so you can cut curves and cut with less burrs? I put a 15 degree heel on mine and it dont dig in, it cuts smooth curves and putting a heel on does not make it any less sharp Ray, as you mentioned earlier. To me it makes it a much more usable graver with way better control for hand pushing lines or dots. Just my humble opinion.

[Andy S]

Tim,
Based on the info just a couple of posts up Ray says that he raises the tool 12 degrees when grinding the tool back to the 70 degree included angle. As far as I can tell that is a heel angle. From what I can understand it is just a very long heel. But I,like you, don't really see the need to have such a long heel where it can drag through the curves. My short amount of experimentation with both yielded similar results. The only advantage I can see to the long heel method is in resharpening. You will only have to redress the face.

[Ray Cover Jr]

Andi,

It does not work as a heel in any way there is no lift. GRS will have a table set up at the Bade Show. They usually have there microscope set up to a TV so you can see what is being cut.

I will bring my heel-less gravers. You sharpen one up with a heel and bring it with you. I can't explain the difference in how they work but I can show it. I will bring a practice plate and compare how the two cut so you can see it. You can take the plate home with you if you like.

Ray

[Andy S]

Well I guess I'll just have to see it. I'll be looking for you at the Blade show.

[rrrf68]

Howdy Folks, thought I would throw my half cents worth in. When I started out I bought a bunch of tools from a jewlry engravers estate. The gentelman was german and did a great deal of that style sculpture type work. Anyway, I began teaching myself with hammer chisel and push gravers because thats what I had to work with. Among the many gravers were various knife gravers, ongelets, rounds etc. I read the posts here and elsewhere, watched the videos and talked to people. I followed the advice of many folks and ground down square gravers in the ways mentioned in this tread and in the various other bulino and dot information sources. I also experimented with various push graver configurations. I have found that small ongelets and knives require far less grinding and I get very nice results in shading. Just a thought. Fred