Hello, I want to say thanks to all for having me! First off a little about me and why I want to learn. I am Shane Sanchez (Sanch for short) I am a self taught leatherworker/bladesmith with a background in art that spans oh about 35 years in many forms of "art" from a pointy stick on the dirt canvas to sculpture and ceramics, watercolor, metal sculpture and on and on to include airbrushing...as of late I have found that the leather working and blade smithing have tied all of my other forms of "art" together and I am always drawn back to my original "poison" METAL and how I can shape it and reform it to serve a purpose as well as be something to behold whether it be simplistic or very complex. I enjoy making the tools that I use as well as enjoy the fact it saves me some moooola! most of the leather tools in my shop are hand made by me for me. The reason I want to learn engraving is it is a skill set that looks amazing, looks fun and challenging to learn. I am excited to build the tools that I will be using. So far I have turned 2 chasing hammer heads (4140 tool steel) and made 3 chisel handles (304 SS) I have been researching DIY engravers vises and looked for ways to "hold" work..I am currently reading The Art of Engraving by James B. Meek and am a member of a couple of other forums so far my only "out of pocket" expense has been the HSS blanks from ENCO that I just purchased...next the Lindsay Graver Sharpener System (universal and detail templates then the onglette template) I am very happy to be here and hope that I can be of some sort of help and provide some input to this wonderful resource.
