Now the questions begin...building an engraving bench

[Tim Adlam]

Lee...shmee...what does he know... ...Relax and "BE" the graver... 0]

[mgdesigns]

Tim:

OOOOH-
Now that's Zen & Esoteric.
My wife & I want to know who the picture is in your avatar. Also who is in the picture in yours Jim Small?

[Tim Adlam]

Mark,
Well...it took close to 3 years on the CKD/KnifeNetwork forums for Jim and me to come up with an avatar statement about ourselves.

Jim and I share a history in the "War of Northern Aggression"...AKA..."The Rebellion" or the Civil War.
My great, great grandfather was a colonel in the Iron Brigade.
His name is George Heinrich Walther.

The avatar Jim chose was of an ancestor of his that was a drummer boy...[the name unknown to me.]
What I also know of Jim's family is that he's a direct decendant of General Robert E. Lee.

...and, if there's truth in characteristic traits passed down through generations...
I can understand the feeling of respect Lee's troops had for their beloved General.

Years after the war, the vets had reunions...sometimes with both sides.

Jim and I kind'a carry on that tradition in a sense.

We wanted to share those images that mean something to both of us.

In a nutshell...it's about family..and brothers-in-arms.

Tim

[mgdesigns]

Tim:

I assumed that there was Civil War connection to the photographs. They look of that vintage, especially Jim's drummer boy. As a descendant of later immigrants, I was never really interested in the War Between the States, until on my 1st of 13 Bicycle Rides Across Tennessee (BRAT). I had spoke breakage problems near Shiloh, TN. I held up waiting for a shuttle to the mechanic, and took the tour through the Shiloh Museum, and viewed the film of the Battle. I was amazed that I was sitting in comfort watching a movie showing a representation of a Battle that had occurred 112 years earlier (at that point), and that some 30,ooo people died in a day of fighting. It clarified in my brain, and I have been now more cognizant of what a devastating War that was. And living in TN, I am surrounded by Battle sites, that now have subdivisions of new homes covering hallowed ground.

Be Proud of your family, and there valiant efforts to demonstrate for their country what citizenship was. They fought and gave us the rights that eventually evolved into being able to have this unique Forum.

Sincerely,

Mark Greenbaum
Nashville, TN

[lgrif]

Here's another thought on benches. If one is going to play with guns or other larger than knife items consider the following: place the vice on it's own pedestal as has been mentioned and raise the table/bench high enough so the barrel of the gun can be swung under the table. It sure helps to keep the microscope and gravers from being knocked off.

[S. Dunn]

Lee,
I built an inverted scope boom, and mounted it on the wall. Then, slide my scope up on that and lock it down. With vise on a pedestal, I move my bench out of the way, then I can swing long parts, gun barrels, ect. Works great.
S.Dunn

[Rick Eaton]

Ed,
Glad to be moved, we're camping in a 5th wheel till house is done. Great view though.

On your graver try a 60 degree face with a longer heel till you can hold a steady line, then shorten your heel as you try to cut finer curves. When you get your sharpener you might want to try a 120 degree graver.
Feal free to contact me if you have any problems, you will just need hrs in the seat.

Rick

[Tim Adlam]

Lee, if you want to send pictures of your bench/work area to me...I'll post them for you.

Tim

[Ed Caffrey]

Well, I just crawled out of "the seat", where I've been for the last 2 hours. This stuff is addictive! I'm practicing on the simple exericises in the Gravermax manual. (Thanks Rick for teaching me the trick with the copied images and the acetone!) The sharpener still isn't here, so I've been working with the gravers as they came out of the package.... I'm getting lots of little scratches where the graver "slips" when I'm exiting a cut, but so far, so good. Right now my wife Cindy is sitting at the bench trying her hand at it. Maybe if this works out, she can become the engraver and I can get back to making knives........ This darn thing is like cocaine!!

I'll get some photos of the bench and the first couple of practice plates so you guys can have a good laugh!!

[MCirelli]

Ed
If your using stones to sharpen, you need a heel or it will dive deep. You can lay down a square glensteel graver on your stone lenthwise lay your graver side on it hold at about 20 degrees or the tip about 1/4" from the blank with your graver resting on the blank swipe once or twice right to left. Same for the oter side check your heel for evenness with a loupe.
Mike Cirelli