Somebody teach me: How do you carve steel?

DannyinJapan

DannyinJapan

Joined
Oct 9, 2003
Messages
5,594
I am thinking about making my own sword fittings (European, no Japanese) and I wondered if anyone knew how steel is carved...
 
I don't think it is, although it might be machined. But it's that, I suspect, or hammering, casting, or otherwise molding it to shape.
 
There is also file work, etching, and stamping. I don't know too much about "carving" steel. Maybe try in the Makers section of the forum?

Etching, where you dip the blade in wax, draw a picture, then acid etch it. Can be unbelievable.
Some makers do multiple etches to get more depth to their art. Ive only seen 1-2 books on it and didn't buy them as it was way over my head.
 
One can carve steel with regular gravers, and a chasing hammer. regular engraving tools will do, you can get some from Brownells, or Ngraver supply company.

You can do large carving on steel with cold chisels, but it may be hard to get very fine detail that way.

You can do a lot with needle and riffler files also. really small stuff can be filed with what are known as escapement files, which are very small needle files designed for watch and clock work. Companies like Rio Grande, who sells jeweery tools, will have such things.

You can practice on wood first, esp the filing. Engraving and wood carving are not exactly the same, but most of the techniques overlap.

here is a link to a tutorial which may help. Not my work, but very helpful stuff.



metal carving tutorial

HTH, and feel free to ask any more questions, and I'll try to help.

Tom
 
Well, I guess I'll just get some basic tools and some steel and have a go at it. What I want to do is not as fine as what you do Tom, but I don't know anything at the moment...
 
You may be surprised once you get into it! Once you start down the road...

:D

I agree though, that carving steel is a speciality.

have fun!

Tom
 
I would think there would be some crossover between wood and steel. So if you start with steel and get frustrated by the pace, maybe go to wood for a little bit. Practice makes perfect, and being able to practice a little faster may help you pick it up.
 
That is good advice!

The tools are a bit different, but some can be used for both.

Tom
 
I majored in art in college and did a lot of printmaking. There is a technique called engraving where you use either a copper or zinc plate and carve an image into it using and engraving tool. It might be similar to what you are talking about and such tools are available through art stores. You can also etch metal like SamuraiDave mentions. It really is not that hard to do but you would want to practice on some similar metal first to get the timing of the etch down. And you want to be really careful using any strong acids.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top