Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim P
Hey I'm new to engraving. I have 2 questions for whom ever may be able to help
First one is what's the deal with scopes? What do most beginners use for magnification of there work and where would be a good place to start looking for entry level equipment? Are the expensive scopes the only way to go for a old worn out half blind cat mechanic like myself or is there some type of visor type magnifier that would work well?
Thanks, Jim
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Since no one else has I may as well jump in on this one.
The reason pretty much everyone engraves with at least some type of magnification is that we just can't see well enough without it.
Sure, engraving is meant to be
appreciated without magnification (most of it anyway) but it's pretty darn hard to do really good work by feel.
OptiVisors and other head mounted gear is a great option when starting off. I even had my eye doctor make me a pair of 'engraving' glasses. They're my regular close-focus prescription with a +4.5 Diopter added. We tried for a +5 but I couldn't get the working distance I need with that much added on. I use them for portability
and I can also wear them
while using my other magnifiers if I want to get even closer. It's really cool wearing them while using my scope - I get significantly more magnification without loosing any field of view.
The Italian Bulino artists are famous for just using 10x loupes - often hand held - for their incredibly detailed work.
Phil Coggan has mentioned working that way on at least some of his beautiful stuff.
Some people have posted about using stand mounted magnifiers - things like those lamps with the large lens in the center.
Scopes are what people at least
want to use these days because they
really let you see what you're doing. They take a little bit of getting used to - you're looking down from above and can't really change your viewing angle to look around things (but can rotate / tilt the things). Having a zoom ability is great - you can work at whatever level is appropriate to what you're doing, zooming out to check the area and in to get the placement of very fine details (such as shading lines)
exactly correct.
The two biggest problems using a scope are, Number one; doing some really great stuff - deep, clean cuts and great sweeping curves and then sitting back from the scope and... not being able to find it because it turns out you were zoomed
way in and everything you just did is about 3mm square. Number two is trying to blow that chip / speck of dust away.
Really hard to do from way up there at the eyepieces.
But the interesting thing about working with a scope is that it makes you better when you're
not using it. Take for example flatting out an area. With a scope you can
see what you're doing and get an area shaved down amazingly clean. Once you've done that a few times you get the feel for it and you'll find if you do it without a scope and then come back and look at it with one... well, it probably won't look nearly as good under the scope but it'll still be pretty darn clean. Likewise doing fine shading lines.
Much easier to do when you can
see the tiny space between them and the training of doing it will let you do it (or at least do it better) with less magnification later.