Great engravers

[Planet Glass]

Glass engraving is almost a lost art, and is associated with old traditions. However, some glass artists have given this technique a fresh contemporary feel:

Katherine Coleman (http://www.hill49.demon.co.uk/GALLERY.htm)
Maciej Mdyszkiewicz (http://www.mdyszkiewicz.ca/dmuchawce.htm)


Enjoy!

[dawnt]

Stunning work! Wow....thank you for those links!

[strawberryblondie]

Those are so unique and wonderful, loved looking, thank you for posting those links.

[vijaykharkar]

Glass engraving is almost a lost art, and is associated with old traditions. However, some glass artists have given this technique a fresh contemporary feel:

Katherine Coleman (http://www.hill49.demon.co.uk/GALLERY.htm)
Maciej Mdyszkiewicz (http://www.mdyszkiewicz.ca/dmuchawce.htm)


Enjoy!
Dear Sir,

I fully agree with you, about the fading of the art of Glass Engraving. Thank you for the links given by you. The work on these sites is really great. If however I am permitted to add one more link to the treasure that you have opened, I would like to add the name of Mr. James Denison from UK. I can say that he is one ALL TIME GREAT IN THIS ART. I have always admired his work and had the previlage of directly communicating with him via email and get valuable guidance from the master. His work can be seen at http://www.glassengrave.co.uk/index.htm. You cannot but admire his work.

I have recently joined this forum and have placed some photos of my glass engraving work on our site. More are on the way. I feel that there must be a separate group for glass engraving, as only "Cold Working - Artistic" cannot give any indication of the engraving work. I however do not know how to go about doing this. Could be kind enough to help? :teacher: May I have your critique about my humble engravings?

Thanks
Vijay Kharkar

[Planet Glass]

I've got engraving under the "coldworking" umbrella at the moment. If we have a critical mass of engravers, I'd be most happy to add a subcategory at a later date.

Your engravings are very detailed, and not being an engraver myself, I have to ask what tools you use.

I'd love to learn but I haven't heard of anyone giving classes in the Montreal area, unfortunately.

[vijaykharkar]

Thanks.

I use diamond burrs that the dentists use. These come in different grit size and shapes, which help in giving various textures to the engraving. I also use the accessories that come with the Dremel rotary drills, such as silicon carbide and aluminium oxide grinding stone tips and wheels of various shapes and fineness, diamond wheels, cut-off wheels, rubber polishing points and sanding bands / discs. I have extensively experimented with all these to arrive at the correct tools to achieve the desired effect. The effect of the Niagara falls was finally achieved with the cut-off wheels.

You are most welcome to India where it would be a great pleasure to help you learn this wonderful art. however for your information I am presently in Salt Lake City till Aug 15You may try http://www.lesleypyke.com/index.html , a site by Lesley Pyke, who is stationed in UK, where she has demonstrations and training lessons too. Her work is also very nice.

Have you had a chance to view the work of Mr. James Denison? I am sure you will be very happy.

Vijay

[Boris]

Wonderful links. I am in the starting stages of building my own Glass Engravers Lathe. I bought most of the stuff I will need, and will make my own copper wheels. I find this art fascinating and want to try it myself. The few commercial glass lathes I found, are way out of line with what I want to spend on one, not knowing if its something I will pursue further. Also, the only ones that seem to be available new, are water cooled, and diamond bladed. I am after the traditionla methods, and that looks like making your own.

[vijaykharkar]

Welcome to the engravers fraternity.

wish you all the best for your new project.

[Boris]

Dear Sir,


I have recently joined this forum and have placed some photos of my glass engraving work on our site. More are on the way. I feel that there must be a separate group for glass engraving, as only "Cold Working - Artistic" cannot give any indication of the engraving work. I however do not know how to go about doing this. Could be kind enough to help? :teacher: May I have your critique about my humble engravings?

Thanks
Vijay Kharkar

I just found your pictures, and they are fantastic works. The Temple pillars are my favorites. I do wish that we get more engravers in this forum. There is so little information on Internet on this subject. Have never tried rotary tools, although I see now its possible to do some really nice work with them.

I can see some experiments are in order. Thanks for posting the pictures. Would really like to see your work area and tools in the next batch of pictures. I have several pieces of fine leaded cystal to work on, that have chips and some flaws, so some experiments are going to be needed, before I try and fix the real crystal. Have had good luck cutting down some art glass pieces, but engraved crystal is a new frontier for me. Will post some pictures when I think I can fix these things, and remove the flaws by re-cutting and polishing. AT least it will provide me with basic skill practice.

[bert weiss]

Pepi Herrman in Gilford NH does very traditional cut crystal using diamond and copper wheels. He was trained in Germany.
http://www.handcut.com/

[Boris]

Pepi Herrman in Gilford NH does very traditional cut crystal using diamond and copper wheels. He was trained in Germany.
http://www.handcut.com/

Thank you for the link Bert. Some great work, and video.

[vijaykharkar]

Dear Boris,

Thanks.
Your Pool Table Lamp is too good. I wish, I could do things like this. But I have no clue about stained glass.

I am very keen to have arrangements for polishing glass. Some of my works, especially those with more than one sheet of glass do tend to develop very fine scratches and I can't remove these. I did visit one studio that repairs Stuben Glass items, but it is impossible to have such machinery. Is there a way to have a managable arrangement? The polishing will have to be done without whiping the engraving and cannot be given to trade. Can you help?

As regards my work area, well, any place in the house or office cum studio where I can comfortably sit and work. I generally carry my set of tools with me, if I am going away, like now I am in the USA. I have worked in the garrage or in the room here. All I need is a table and an electric out let. I will try to upload a picture of the tools that I use.

Vijay

[Boris]

Dear Boris,

I am very keen to have arrangements for polishing glass. Some of my works, especially those with more than one sheet of glass do tend to develop very fine scratches and I can't remove these. I did visit one studio that repairs Stuben Glass items, but it is impossible to have such machinery. Is there a way to have a managable arrangement? The polishing will have to be done without whiping the engraving and cannot be given to trade. Can you help?

Vijay

I wish there was an easy answer to polishing glass. Polishing is a time consuming and labor intensive task, even if the piece is not engraved or decorated. If you can run your fingernail across the scratch, and feel it, you will have to remove quite a bit of glass, and if its engraved already, you will definately effect the engraving. I have used aluminum oxide and a very hard felt cylinder shaped felt pad on a hand buffer, with plenty of water, and had good luck removing small scratches, discoloring, and such from glass, and have worked in some small areas, using a mini-motor tool, that works like a dremel, but is very small, and you can regulate the speed from a very low, of a couple of hundred RPM to 50,000 RPM, so water will not be splashed everywhere. It also makes a good enrgraver, using 3/32 shanked diamond points and wheels. I think the key is "slow" speeds, because of less heat, greater control, being able to slow down the process for a better view, before too much glass is removed. I am going to try using an oil mix, like used on copper wheels, with abrasive, at slow speeds, to see if water can be eliminated on smaller jobs.

I also drilled some copper "Pennies" to fit a dremel shank, on my lathe, making a mini-copper wheel, for this experiment. In theory, it should work OK for small intricate work, or repairs on crystal. Will also try polishing with this method. I saw an engraver using a engraving lathe and small felt wheel to polish buttons on an engraved piece of glass, and it was a fairly quick process.

Lots of room for experimenting in this field. I have a metal lathe, milling machine, drill presses, a high temp kiln that will melt metals, wire feed welder, acetylene torches, and everything else I need to make almost anything to play with, so love to experiment.

[Lespyke]

I thought my ears were burning! Hello all, thanks so much Vijay, that was very sweet of you!
Les:party:

Thanks.

may try http://www.lesleypyke.com/index.html , a site by Lesley Pyke, who is stationed in UK, where she has demonstrations and training lessons too. Her work is also very nice.


Vijay

[Boris]

I thought my ears were burning! Hello all, thanks so much Vijay, that was very sweet of you!
Les:party:

And he was not exagerating one bit. It is fantastic work, and the detail/quality is superb. The site is set up very well too, and I had a great time just looking through all the artwork. Great job.

[Lespyke]

Thanks very much Boris ;-) My website is like my hobby I suppose, but an essential business tool.

[vijaykharkar]

I have just posted some more content. Pleasure to have comments.

Vijay

[vijaykharkar]

Thanks Bert,

My eyes were popping out at every piece of the work.

Vijay

[Lespyke]

I know you have asked me in a PM to give a crit on your work, and Vijay I decided to write it here so all can see.
I love the freedom yet accuracy of your style. You simply engrave the light and let the shadows take care of themselves. You take on a huge range of subjects quite bravely, and successfully, like huge rocks.
I love your temple and your lion most of all.

[Catherine Miller Designs]

There are many lathes in WV since engraving is going by the wayside, you may adapt it for copper wheel I would think. I myself use stone wheels witht he water to cool.
Sincerely,
Catherine Miller

[Boris]

There are many lathes in WV since engraving is going by the wayside, you may adapt it for copper wheel I would think. I myself use stone wheels witht he water to cool.
Sincerely,
Catherine Miller

Hi Catherine, Thanks for the tip. You must live in a fortunate location, since I can not find any used ones, in this area, or on eBay, for that fact, since I have been checking for months. If you do find one, they want a ton of money for it, so having a new one to use as a toy is hard to justify. I will be using some stone wheels also, along with diamonds, in the projects I will be paid to do, but play with the copper wheel part of it.

Just a few more parts to gather, and will have enough to assemble the lathe. I have the base, a heavy cast iron one, with bronze bearings, have the shaft, and a spare, which I have to pick up at UPS on Monday, and have a motor with step pulley. Also have a water delivery system. Getting close. Waiting for an answer on the shaft step pulley, which needs to be a one inch bore. The main shaft is bored and threaded, in 3/8 macnine thread. The shaft is one inch, and the 10 inch long, and 1/2 diameter, tapered spindles that hold the stones/wheels, will be threaded to install on the main shaft. Everything will be precision machined for balance, and elimination of any vibrations. Should work!! (fingers crossed)

If you run across any info on a used (reasonable) lathe, let me know.

[Boris]

Got my home made glass lathe done, and it runs great. Posted pictures in albums. Made from scrounged parts found in flea markets and on eBay, plus some stuff I already had laying around. The cost to build it was under 100.00 dollars. Now will be busy for a while making copper wheels and mounting stone wheels for it. Will alos invest in a couple of diamond wheels, if I find a reasonable supply.

[Lespyke]

I am totally impressed Boris!!! Looking forward to seeing what you can do with it.

[iaff84]

Boris,
Looking forward to seeing some work off this.
I take it the "clip" over wheel is to hold sponge or something to spread water / coolant?
I do my inside curve work on my bevels on a SOMACA machine. Have the tapered ends for mounting smaller stones. Something I just never was interested in. I have a two step pully plus a moveable motor base. Motor shaft has a 2 to 4 inch spring loaded pully. As I use for only a 6 inch stone and a cone stone, I do not have to change speeds very much.
I knew what it was when I got it but also knew it woud not really be used for what it was made to do.
Dennis

[Boris]

I am totally impressed Boris!!! Looking forward to seeing what you can do with it.

Thank you. Its going to be interesting. I have several pieces of antique crystal that has some chips and fleabites, belonging to a new client, and he wants me to play with them, to see if they can be re-cut. He says I cant hurt them, since they are already damaged, so will play with them to get a feel for the machine. Have done a few art glass one of a kind repairs, on flat laps and wet belt, and I guess he liked the work. Will be a while before I give it a try, since I am waiting for a new chuck for my metal lathe that will hold up to four inch wheels, and they said it will be four to six weeks before I receive it. Also backlogged on lighting repairs too, so first things first. Not enough time in a day, when you do this as a hobby and have to put in 8 to 5 at the regular job. Slumped two panels tonight, and repaired a base for assembly tommorrow night. Cut a new crown and soldered it in the shade last night, so its going to be a busy week.

Your work is fabulous. I browse it whenever I get a chance.

[Boris]

Boris,
Looking forward to seeing some work off this.
I take it the "clip" over wheel is to hold sponge or something to spread water / coolant?
I do my inside curve work on my bevels on a SOMACA machine. Have the tapered ends for mounting smaller stones. Something I just never was interested in. I have a two step pully plus a moveable motor base. Motor shaft has a 2 to 4 inch spring loaded pully. As I use for only a 6 inch stone and a cone stone, I do not have to change speeds very much.
I knew what it was when I got it but also knew it woud not really be used for what it was made to do.
Dennis

I would love to have a real machine, but its not in my hobby budget, and I would have a hard time justifying it. Yes, the "clip" is for a leather strip to run against the wheels. Keeps one from having a bath, I think. I have also seen them on copper wheels to keep the slurry smeared on the wheel. New territory.

What size shaft has the SOMACA have? Are the tapers available from the supplier? I could probably make a bigger one, but have not done any cutting on the lathe with the tailstock shifted off to the side for a taper. Cheaper to buy one, and make the stuff I can not buy. I have a working knowledge of the lathe and mill, and know how to use them, but am not a machinist by a long shot. Stone wheels I can adapt to the taper I have, by pouring lead in the centers of the stones and then drilling a small taper hole in the center with the lathe, for accuracy. Once threaded on taper, straightened and trued, it should thread back in the same place each time. If off, it can be re-trued by a slight hammer tap.

I have these videos of a master engraver doing glassware, and all the machine corrections. I have watched it over and over and over, and know each step, and studied all the equipment and stones he uses. I have watched his hand movements, and listened to the pressure he puts against the wheel. Memorized it. Now, I can even tell which stone he uses that needs dressing, because I hear the slight chatter. I call it "Monkey See Monkey Do" self instruction...

[iaff84]

Boris,
Shaft is 1.5 inch. Has shoulder turned on shaft at 1 inch dia. Tapered end has a matching shoulder cut into it so when threaded on it is flush with shaft diameter. Threaded section on main shaft measures 3/4 inch. This is on left side of machine so these are all R H thread. The threaded end of this add on doesn't have "tarpered" threads and measures 1/2 inch.
I have a couple of these. If you can use this one it is yours for the cost of shipping.
Sorry, I gave a bunch of wheels to another guy that fit this. Must have been 30 or so.
Dennis

[Boris]

Boris,
Shaft is 1.5 inch. Has shoulder turned on shaft at 1 inch dia. Tapered end has a matching shoulder cut into it so when threaded on it is flush with shaft diameter. Threaded section on main shaft measures 3/4 inch. This is on left side of machine so these are all R H thread. The threaded end of this add on doesn't have "tarpered" threads and measures 1/2 inch.
I have a couple of these. If you can use this one it is yours for the cost of shipping.
Sorry, I gave a bunch of wheels to another guy that fit this. Must have been 30 or so.
Dennis

Interesting. Thats a good size shaftI chose to run mine off the right side of the machine. I could slide the shaft over to the left, and secure it again, and make it a left hand deal. My shaft is only a one inch and most of the wheels I see are a one inch center. I guess I will have to make hubs and spindles for any I get and adapt them to work on a one inch shaft. No big deal. Covington offers flanges and such for a one inch shaft, since thats what they use on their machines. Thanks for the offer, but I think the piece may be a bit too big for my toy. Alas, shame I missed out on the wheels, but such is life. Thanks for the info. Post a picture of the machine when you get a spare moment. Would like seeing it.
Boris

[iaff84]

Boris,
Have a couple of pictures here.
http://www.beveledglass.net/HANDBEVELING.html
Small thumbnail, mid page, by smoothing section
As I said, I use it for smoothing inside curves on my bevels and mount a small cork or felt wheel to left side when needed

[Boris]

Boris,
Have a couple of pictures here. http://beveledglass.net/MachinePHOTOGALLERY2.html As I said, I use it for smoothing inside curves on my bevels and mount a small cork or felt wheel to left side when needed

Pretty awesome machine. Thanks again...

[Boris]

Boris,
I use it for smoothing inside curves on my bevels and mount a small cork or felt wheel to left side when needed


I guess you never know about weird luck. I went to an auction today, and they had some machinists tools and other stuff. I found a box of different spindles, chucks, and wheel arbors for shaft mounting. How "uncanny" is that, and whats the chances of finding that specialized stuff when needed? Saved time by weird luck.

[chrissommer]

I have sand blasted glass for 10 years, if anyone has any questions feel free to ask

Chris
http://www.chrissommer.com

[chrissommer]

I do all my work by hand

Chris
http://www.chrissommer.com

[chrissommer]

are my posts posting ?

Chris
http://www.chrissommer.com

[Boris]

yep, your posts are here. Checked out your site. Very nice set up. May have questions after I spend some more time there, looking around. Thanks for posting

[Lespyke]

Chris, I don't often visit this forum, not enough time in the day....but I have just popped in and viewed your website. I think I said "wow" 10 times at least. Totally impressed!
Les

[vijaykharkar]

Hello every one,

The Frabel Awards competition was announced on our site. I entered it with the encouragement I received from Catherine Miller.

Lo and behold! I have been nominated by the jury for being voted by the members of http://www.myglassart.org for the final award. You can see my entry at http://www.myglassart.org/frabel-awards-nominees.

I request all members of our forum to visit the site and help me by voting for me. (I am confident, you will like my work:duck:):crossfingers:

Vijay

[iaff84]

As I belong to that board, I voted for you both from this board. Your work looked great.
Dennis Swan

[vijaykharkar]

Hi Dennis,

Thank you so much for your support :heart:. I would need plenty of this from friends and well wishers like you.

Vijay

[Boris]

Hope you both win your categories. You got my vote...

[Boris]

I forgot to mention that I finally got to the Waterford Crystal pieces about 2 weeks ago, and completed the work with perfect results. Cut down and polished 3 glasses with 1/8 or so chips in top rim, and 2 heavy pitchers with saw tooth pattern at the top. One had spout damaged, and another had one of the side teeth broken off at rim. Cut down spout and polished, came out undetectable, and cut the side rims down 1/4 inch on both sides of the second one, and recut the saw teeth patter. Polished, and turned out undetectable. These where all hand cut vintage pieces, so each was different. Makes it easy to repair, since there is nothing exact or absolute to compare to. Paid for all the lathe parts I used, and had a few bucks left over for some more wheels.

[vijaykharkar]

Great news Boris,

How about some photographs for our reference?

Vijay