Modern Letter Engraving

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MODERNLETTER ENGRAVING

IN THEORY AND PRACTICE.

A MANUAL EOR THEUSE O r WATCHM AKERS, JEWELERS AND OTHER

METAL ENGRAVERS.

BYPRED HOLMES REES.

ILLUSTRATED WITH NUMEROUS ETCHINGS BY THE AUTHOR.

CHICAGO:GEO. K. HAZLITT &CO.

Digital publication by the GANOKSIN project


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COPYRIGHTED 1898,BY GEO. K. HAZLITT & CO.CHICAGO.



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PREFACE.Cognizant of the fact there are many young men

desirous oflearning the art of let ter engraving, whoare unable tot ake acourse of instructions under aninstructor, and that there are many doing engravingby laboring under perplexing and discouraging dis-advantages, and are unaware of it tosome extent,owing to the lack ofrudimentary and technical train-ing and knowledge of the art, while ifthey had theadvantages of being correctly informed and startedin the right way, they would find the w or k an artand pleasant study.

For such reasons Iwas prompted to write this book.THE AUTHOR.

Digital publication by the GANOKSINproject


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MODERN LETTER ENGRAVING IN THEORYAND PRACTICE.

CHAPTER I.E ng rav ing as ha s well b een said, is one of the most

beautiful ar ts in existence, and th ere h as b een no timein its history for be tter oppo rtun ity toexemplify itsbeau ty than du ring the past few ye ars , in view of thefact of the re havin g been so many novelties m ade andsold which are expressly designed tobe engraved.The demand for engraving has increased so rapidly thatit is impossible for jewelers toengrave the goods theysell during the busy seasons.At this day and age, with the advancement in the art,it is necessary for those w ho would be successful, to beproficient and thor ou gh . Proficiency is obtained only bypersistent and studious w ork , by wh ich th e m asters ofthe art have succeeded.It is within the scope of any ene rgetic yo un g m an'stalents to become agood engraver without apprenticinghimself to any regular instructor; however, the writerwould recommend all students toboth study books ofinstruction and spend asmuch time with a capableinstructor as possible.It is the object ofthis work to place before the stu-dent clearly and concisely as possible the best methodof procedure, commencing atthe foundation of the artand carefully considering each and every imp ortant3



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4 MODERN LETTER ENGRAVING

point conn ected with it, to its highest de gr ee , avoidingmisleading technicalities.W e first m ust learn w hat tools to use and how to usethem , and th e co rrec t formation ofletters, and how tocut them.The student should supply himself with a text book,of different styles of letters and with aN o . 3 hard pencil,and copy the script letters on paper until he can makethem equivalent in form to the copy. Itis obvious that

we first learn to design the letters before any considera-tion of engraving them.Zinc m ade into 3x4 inch sheets, is agood, cheapmetal for thestudent topractice on, but assilverplates are much better and can be made cheaply, Iwouldrecom m end them . Britannia metal plates can also bem ade by any silver p late m anu facturer forforty centsper pound as the metal comes from the rolls, which is ingood enough condition for engraving, and can be madeany size and rolled to any desired thickness.T h e next necessary thing isthe graver, asand bagpad upon which to hold the article tobe engraved, anda rule; athin one ofcelluloid or an y flexible m ater ialabout six inches long isthe best style to use for platework, and is also very useful on oval surfaces.T h e best style of g rave r for the b egin ner to useisshown at Fig. 1, which is asquare graver, fitted to han-dle; gra ve rs are purch ased sep arate from handles, andare tapering at the end that isintended to go into thehandleThe selection ofgravers is avery important item.After fitting the graver in handle, we break itoff so asto leave it, including han dle, not less than 4 ^ incheslong.



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IN THEORY AND PRACTICE. 5In putting the blade inthe handle, it should besothe maximum width ofthe graver is atthe end ofthe

handle, thus leaving the entire taper in the handle, whichwill give the gra ve r the grea test stren gth atthat pointwhere itis most needed.T h e gra ve r should be so placed in the handle as toappear as shown atF i g . I,and ground off on the endat an angle of 45 degrees, end view of which isshownat Fig. 2, when graver is laid flat as shown at Fig.1JPLATE1

e

J.

A A

After breaking the graver off the desired length andgrinding or whetting the end to an angle of 45 degrees,we then grind the under sides E, Fig 2, back about halfan inch and on an angle as shown at Fig. 6.The object ingrinding the gra ve r off in the ma nnerabove described, is togive amore convenient cuttingang le, and enable us tohold the graver gracefully inour hand while executing the work.The necessity of sharpening the graver asabovedescribed will bethoroughly understood by inspecting



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6 MODERN LETTER ENGRAVINGF ig . 5, wh ich show s the corr ect position tohold thegraver . T he graver isheld be twee n th e thum b andindex finger, with the back ofthe handle D , Fig . i,placed in the palm of the hand, with the second fingeraround the right side ofthe blade , and the third andfourth or little finger on the flat side of the graver han-dle H, Fig. i. Itwill be plainly seen that agraver heldin this position, gives the operator perfect control of thetool.

If the gra ve r w ere not grou nd on the u nder side asdescribed, there would not be ample room for the opera-tor's fingers between the plate and the handle.Having ground the graver offon the under sidesasabove mentioned (the grinding isdone on a grindstone or emery w heel) w e next w het iton the undersides on afine oil stone toremove the coarse scratches,left bythe grinding process. T o do this, place theindex finger on the op posite or top side from the one tobe whetted, pressing itdown on the stone and merelysteadying itwith the thumb and second finger placedwhere the graver enters the handle and pushing itback-ward and forward, not from right to left.Whett ing the graver on the end, it isheld inposi-tion asshown at F i g . 3,and moved from right toleft on a straight line asshown at F i g . 4,whichis aview of graver on stone looking indirection ofarrow cFig . 3. Great care should be used towhetthe graver asabove described, as if it isnot movedon aline asmentioned, it isimpossible to get the endflat. Should the gra ve r be moved in acircular direc-tion, which isthe most natural and easy way, itwouldbe rounding on the end, a thing most necessary toobviate.



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CHAPTER I I .If you will now examine the cutting edges ofthe

graver with an eye glass you will see aburr which mustbe rem ov ed; to do this, jab the gr av er in the end of ablock of hard wood, which the pupil should have on hisbench for this purpose.The graver isnow inorder forcutt ing where abright cut isnot required, such asmonogramsonpolished cases and watch caps. It isdifficult tocutwith the graver in this condition and atthe same timethe tool issharper than itwill be after it has beenpolished, but the effect ofwork cut with agraver asit comes from the stone is most beautiful, owing to thecontrast between engraving and surface of articleengraved. T h e cause ofthis effect will be well under-stood ifyou examine the cutting edges of your graverwith aglass. T his exam ination will reveal th e fact thatthe edges referred to are like saw teeth or cutting edgeof lining graver, caused by the scratches left by the oilstone.If we have in hand apiece of work that we wanttocut brigh t these scratches must be rem ov ed ; th e opera -tion is gen erally und erstood by the student tobe onlypolishing the undersides ofgraver, and he isapt tolabor und er the impression, ifthe graver inthis par-ticular pa rt is polished, tha t is all that is r eq uired . T h isis an erroneous idea. W e w ant to do as little polishingas possible, as the more polishing there isdone justsomuch we destroy the sharp cutting edge and makethe grav er round ing. T h e g rav er should neve r be pol-ished on the end.



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T o p rov e to the studen t that it is not necessary to polishthe graver as above mentioned, Iwould state that manyengravers polish their gravers on oil stones, the fact thatit can be easily done will be thoro ugh ly understood bysubsequent instructions.At D, Fig. 9, is shown amagnified view of the underor cutting side of a graver , as it comes from theoilstone, show ing th e lines previously refe rred to. It isobviously plain to an y co m prehen sive mind that if weshould draw the graver back from the point inthedirection of the lines ofFig . 9 itwould require muchmore polishing to remove the coarse scratches, than itwould if we should place the graver onour emeryblock, w hich will be explained sub sequen tly, in positionshown at Fig. 8, which shows the graver in position forpolishing the righ t underside. A n app earanc e of gra verafter thus treated is shown atF i g . 7which shows thelines left by emery block, but owing tothe direction inwhich they run they do not cause any saw teeth appear-ance or rough edge.

It is well unde rstoo d tha t all polishing m aterials con-tain particles that will scratch, even though they are sofine that we cannot detect them with the naked eye;this being the case itis plainly seen that ifwe do usefine polishing materials when polishing the graver,itwould be impossible to put the graver in order for brightcutting bymoving it ordrawing it onthe polishingblock in direction of the lines at Fig. 9.My object indwelling solong on this subject is thatthere are so m any engrav ers that have awrong idea ofthis important part oftheir work, and such are to-daylaboring under false impressions greatly to their disad-vantage. Itherefore wish to impress upon the student's



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IN THEORY AND PRACTICE. 9mind the importance ofcorrectly putting the graver inorder, which isan easy matter ifone understands thecorrect manner of procedure.What we want is a sharp-cutting edge, perfectly flaton unde r side, and on the end. A tool in this conditionwill not slip unless inthe hands of a very unskillfuloperator.

To make the emery block above referred to (it is best

to make two, as with the second we can finish the first,and itrequires avery li t t le more time to make two), geta piece ofhard wood four inches long and one inchsqu are , finished flat on all side s; now ta k e apieceof0000 em ery pap er (which you can get atany materialhouse), coat the back or paper side with mucilage, treat-ing one side of the block in the same m an ne r. Allow itto stand two orthree minutes, then place the paper on



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IO MODERN LETTER ENGRAVING

the block, turning the side that you have put the paperon down on some flat surface, and place aweight on theblock, allowing itto remain until itis thoroughly dry,then saw the block in two in center, and you will havetwo blocks two inches long; you will notice by closeexamination that the paper isnot perfectly flat; as allpolishing blocks should be flat, we now rub the twoblocks toge the r, w hich w ill smooth them down dead flat.Now carefully trim the edges off, should any paperextend over the edges of the block, and you now havetwo of the best polishing b locks obtainable. Iuse andrecommend this style of block as it is as fine as requiredto polish the graver , is convenient, durable, and will dothe w ork quicker than any other that has come to mynotice.To polish the graver on the emery block above men-tioned and described, place the tool on the block in posi-tion as shown atFig. 8, where Erepresents the blockand Fthe graver; place the index finger on the graver,very near the end, with thumb on left and under side,with the second and third finger on the right of graverto steady it. The position ofthumb as mentioned willpermit its use as aguide for moving the cutting edge ofgraver to be polished on aline with the edge ofblock,wh ich line is shown at H H, Fig. 8. The graver must bemoved in this direction toget aperfect polish. Ifthegraver is held in the position and moved in the directionmentioned, itwill not be necessary to draw iton theblock more than an inch; should you find, how ever, thatthe graver will not cut aperfectly bright cut, repeat theoperation.Assuming that the student has strictly followed theinstructions given, we now have our graver inperfect



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IN THEORY AND PRACTICE. IIorder for cutting the connecting exercises and scriptlet tering; andIwish to state at this time that there is nostyle oflettering more beautiful, or any that will givem ore gene ral satisfaction tha n script letter s w hen per-fectly cut, and I trust that those who follow theseinstructions will m aste r this style before any attempt ismade to engrave other orm ore fancy letters . Beforewe consider the art of cutting the exercises or letters, wemust first master the art ofdesigning, a par t of theengraver's work most essential to his success. Design-ing is not drawing let ters as onewould w rite, but is doneby holding the pencil or designing point in the hand asyou would when writing, and is done by making brokenlines, as shown atFig. 10. The object inmaking alldesigns in this manner is that by so doing we can easilycorrect our work aswe advance. For illustration,if inmaking the "l ine ofbeauty ," as shown at Fig.10, we should notice that we were not making itasdesired, we can easily change our course, as we onlymake ordesign apart ofthe letter ateach stroke,and that portion where we have made the error caneasily bedetected and corrected . D esigning shouldbe done aslightly aspossible; heavy ortoo muchdesigning has a tendency toconfuse the engraver .W e are not supposed tomake the letters perfect indetail by designing.

Only make the outlines as described by making thebroken lines to guide the eye when engraving, but theoutlines thus made must be made correct in form, angle,and size or height .



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CHAPTER I I I .The young men of today are so anxious to reach thesummit of the profession they may decide to follow, thatmany rush forward in such haste to reach the top roundof the ladder to success, that they step over many of thelower ones, and in this over estimation of their abilitythey fail to grasp the elevation desired, and having failedto place the lower rounds firmly they fall back into theovercrowded population of failure's domain.If your ambition does not dictate anything higher thanthat of abo tch, do not spend any tim e tryin g to learnthis beautiful ar t. T h e student w ho will succeed is onewho will thoroughly master all the fundamental princi-ples of each and every style oflettering and all theauxiliaries connected with their formation and execution.Do not think, dear reader, that all that is required is thenecessary tools, a lesson or two, and you are finished.It takes but little more time, and the careful considera-tion of details to lea rn an yth ing well, especially the ar tof engraving, and it is impossible to succeed, in even theplain work, ifyou do not first study with care the pre-liminaries.The student may think that the exercises on Plate 3are not necessary, orar e only for children. N ot so.The popular fallacy of first commencing toengravescript letters is agreat mistake; while it is true that thisstyle, or Roman, is the first that we learn to engrave,they are not the first lessons in engraving.Script engraving isdifficult if properly executed,there fore w e must first practice some of th e lines andstrokes embodied inthis style, and having mastered



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IN THEORY AND PRACTICE. 13them, which requires but little time, we can much morerapidly launch out into the m aste ry of script en gr av ingHaving endeavored to demonstrate the error of gettingtoo ambitious to reach the top, and judging the reader'sconception adeq uate to the obvious reasons m entioned,we will now commence the exercises referred to.T o design the exercises to be eng rav ed on m etal w emust first paint the metal with some material on whichwe can design with apencil, except polished articles,which we will consider as w e pro gre ss. T o design on

articles not polished, like those that have asatin or deadfinish, abou t the best thin g to u se is Ch inese W hite , asnow white paint that will dry instantaneously.TheChinese White you can buy at any art store and comesin bricks at 10 cents each or in bottles at 25 cents each;the latter is the best way to buy it, as by keeping it inthe bottle it is free from du st. W ith apoint of aknifetake asmall quantity of the paint and place on the arti-cle to be engra ved. N ow wet you r ringer and rub thepaint over the article; avery thin coating isall that isrequired. A s above stated, the paint will dry instantly,



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and will not in any way injure the point of your graver.N ow carefully design the exercises to be engrave d, asshown on Plate 3.Having first practiced the designing on paper untilyou are proficient in that regard, you will find itjust aseasy to design on the metal, when painted as described.H olding the gr av er in yo ur hand, as previously m en-tioned, com m ence cutting the lines as shown at F ig .1,Plate 3, holding the graver so the flat part of the handleis flat with th e pla te, and the point of th e g raver willthen be parallel w ith p lat e; the gr av er held in this positionwill cut avery fine line, kno wn in the tra de as ahair line.Place the point of the graver at the end of the first line,com m encing at the lower end, pushing the g rav er for-ward, holding the tool firmly inyour hand sothe linewill be cut the same depth from point of commencementto the end . T h e plate is held on apad with the left hand,and is cemented on asmall thin piece ofwood; acoverto a cigar box will answer very well. Ifthe plate weare to engrave is more than two inches square itcan betacked to the wood with very small tacks or pins, insteadof cem entin g. In cutting the hair lines just mentioned,beginners usually start with afine line and wind up witha line th re e times as wide and as dee p ; this is the point wewish tooverco m e. A s formerly stated, the lines mustbe the same from beginning to end, and cut clean, push-ing the gra ve r forward inthe direction of the arrows.Now cut the next line, and be very sure itis cut in everyrespect the same as the first.

Be extrem ely cautious that you are cutting iton thesame angle, and when the point of the graver hasarrived at the end of the line raise the hand avery little,at the sam e time lifting up on the gr av er and push ing



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IN THEORY AND PRACTICE. 15the same forward, which will break off the chip in frontof the tool, and throw out the gr av er. A little practicewill enable the student to thro w the gra ve r out inthisway ve ry easily and not leave any bur r at the end of theline, a thing prevalent with the beginne r, b ut quicklyobviated with prac tice. Be ginn ing the second lineatthe bottom and cutting from the righ t to the left, theoperato r will hav e the first line be tw een himself and thegrav er point, th us enabling him to use it as a guide ;using the first line for this pu rpo se, and assum ing thesame tohave been cut accurately, keeping the samedistance from the pre ced ing line from end to end, youare now in position tocut the balance in like manner.Practice these lines until you can cut them nicely, avoid-ing all errors outlined abov e, after which design anden grav e the lines, at F ig . 2, avoiding as far as possiblethe errors as mentioned in connection with cutting thelines at F ig . 1. T h e point to gain in cutting the lines atF ig . 2 is toso cut them as to meet perfectly in thecenter, where the two lines come together; this accom-plishment will be ofmuch value to the student, as willbe noticed as w e procee d. By m eeting perfectly in thecenter I do not mean coming nearly together, nor oneline just alittle long er than the other, but that th e linesshould so perfectly m eet that one could not tell w hichwas cut first. Ex actn ess isrequisite in these, our firststeps, as well as those w e hope to tak e later on. T h er eis not one thing in th e ru dim ents ofthis beautiful artthat we can afford to treat as atrifle.

Next engrave the lines atFig. 3, avoiding all thepoints oferror as inFigs . 1and 2, being extremelycautious when cutting the lines up tothe corners.Having practiced cutting these lines until we are able to



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T6 MODERN LETTER ENGRAVINGcut them straight and otherwise as instructed, the stu-dent is prepared to take astep higher, and commencecutting the cu rved lines, as shown atFig . 4. Whencutting these curves we begin with the line at the right,as in engraving, all such lines are cut on a curve; by cut-ting to the right, Imean, in order to make the curve thegra ve r is turned to the right. T h e reasons for engravingthe line or curve atthe right first is there fore obvious.It is to be understood, of course, that the plate is turnedjust opposite from its position when the lines at Fig. 1were cut, and should be to engrave the curves nowunder consideration, so the curve atthe right as shownat F ig 4 wo uld be directly in front of the op era tor. Inengraving these curves, as well as the lines at Fig. 1, thecurve first cut will answer as aguid e. All eng ravin g oflines and curve s, in fact all other w ork w hen possible, isso cut, and the work so placed in front of the engraver,that the cut just finished will not be obstructed fromview by the ope rator 's hand, or the grav er. Insomecases it is impossible to do this, but it is impera tive w he repracticable.



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CHAPTER IV.

Assuming that the student has mastered the cutting ofthe curves at Fig. 4we will now endeavor to design andengrave aloop or letter O asshown atPlate 4, Fig. 5,with no shad ing at first. Begin at H, the top cente r of theloop, and cut down to the lower center at K, where thegrav er is throw n out as formerly described, picking theline up again at this point itis continued up tothe top

. S.e /center at Hwh ere the graver isthrown out as at Klower cen ter. G rea t car e should be exercised to cut thecurve upon the same curve as the down stroke. Pleasenote what ismeant bycenter ofloops, as it ishereexemplified; Itrust the read er will rem em ber when latterreferred to. Practice cutting this loop until you a reable to manipulate the gra ve r in itsexecution dexter-ously. O ur next exercise at F ig . 6you will find quitedifficult to cut pe rfectly smooth and rou nd , ke ep in g thesame distance from the line last cut after w e have m adethe first round, thus cu tting the lines th e same distan ce



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apart from the beginning to the inner or center coil. Thelines should be cut the same width and dep th and pe r-fectly roun d. H avin g accomplished the desired resultin the execution ofthis, our last ofpreliminary exer-cises, we are now, Isincerely hope, in the proper condi-tion to enter upon the consideration and execution of thebeginning, and all important line in the script alphabet," the line of beauty "shown at F ig . 7. Be gin byplac-ing the graver point at the top end of the line and, hold-ing the g ra ve r parallel with the plate, push the tool for-ward with great care, cutt ing only ahair line. W e willconsider the shading after we have mastered the cuttingof the hair line. T h e line should be so cut as to appe arthe same either side up . W he n your grav er pointreaches the lower end of the line throw the graver outas formerly described and continue designing and engrav-ing this line until you have thoroughly mastered its cor-rec t formation and execu tion, the sequel ofwhich willplace the student inposition tofeel gratified with thisaccomplishment, as he will note as he proceeds that thecardinal foundation stone tothe art ofscript letteringhas been placed firmly in position, wh ich will answ er asa stepp ing stone to his future success. T h e line und erconsideration is amuch neglected part ofthe scriptalphabet and its mastery is, as above mentioned, while itsneglect will obstruct the student's success. I thereforetrust that my readers will follow the advice here givenand above all things master the "line ofbeauty ." The" l ine ofbeauty orcapi ta l s tem" isused in the forma-tion of 20 of the 26 capital script letters.To shade with asquare graver we merely turn thetool over to the right and by so doing the graver will cuta groove as shown atF ig . 9. Before w e consider the



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IN THEORY AND PRACTICE. 19shading of the line we now have in hand, we should firstlearn just w he re the line should be shaded , the begin -ning, the center and the end ofsuch shading.Theline referred to should be shad ed as show n atFig . 8where the cross line Dshows the point ofthe begin-ning, A the center and Rthe end, when viewed froma cutting dow n stand point, and vice versa w hen cut-ting up. In shading the " line ofb e a u t y " orcapitalstem, we begin at the top as previously described and socontinued until the graver point arrives at the cross lineD at which point the graver isgradually turned fromthe operato r as it is pushed forw ard and is so continueduntil the graver point is pushed down as far as the crossline A , at which point the line reache s its maximum w idthand gradually decreases from this point down tothecross line R, which decrease is made by gradually turn-ing the graver back toward the operator until it ispar-allel with the plate w e are cutting w hen the gr av erpoint arrive s at the cross line R , and so continue to th eend ofthe line where the graver isthrown out asdescribed in apreceding chap ter. N ow while the toolis in the position asyou lift it from the incision thefinish at the end ismade by placing the graver pointjust above the end of the line and making acut as thereshown, which is not here connected, as itshould be butleft separate to exemplify itcorrect formation. W henproperly executed and connected it will appear to be acontinuation ofth e ' line ofbeauty," thus making avery neat finish. It is m ade by tu rnin g th e gr av er tothe right quickly as the tool is push ed forw ard, turn ingthe hand around to the right so as tomake the neces-sary curve . Imm ediately after the gra ve r is inserted , thehand is turned gradually back tothe left and so con-



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20 MODERN LETTER ENGRAVINGtinued until the point of the graver reaches the end ofthe "l ine of beauty" at which point it should bepar-allel with the plate and cutting aline the same width anddepth as the line itmeets.T h a t the line m ay be in the cen ter of the shade w efind it necessary to shade both down and up. Itwill beplainly seen that ifw e cut th e line un de r considerationup only and shade to the right, the shade thus cut wouldall be to the right of the "l in e of be au ty ," unless cut aswill bedescribed later, w hich m anne r of execution ismore difficult, and as the writer believes infirst consid-ering the mode of procedure most easy of conception aswell as execution, we will continue our thought of shad-ing both up and dow n. By both cutting dow n andupwh en shading the " line of be a u ty " the shade expandsout both tothe right and left of the center of the line,and inconseq uence d oes not deform the line. T hism ann er of engr av ing this line does not ap ply tothatstyle of cutting that we would use when engravingscript monograms and large bright cut letters, but is byfar the most satisfactory way to engrave the line in mostscript lett er ing . After the cut at the end of the lineismade, as above described, we turn the plate around andplace the gr av er point in the incision at R , F ig . 8, andcut up to A and D, as described for cutting down, exceptwhen the gr av er point is pushed up to D , by gradua llyturnin g the gr av er back to the left from A . It is plainlyunderstood that the graver when arriving at D willbeparallel with the plate, and as same is in the same inci-sion cut by the graver on its downward journey it wouldnot have any metal in front of itwhen D is reached andthus would not need tobe thrown out, turned out,orbroken out, but itis only necessary to very carefully lift



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IN THEORY AND PRACTICE. 21the graver up. Ifthis operation is carried on as abovedescribed the result will be that the line will be so care-fully en grav ed tha t th e m ost critical ey e would find itdifficult to discern any radical imperfection.One point favorable tothis manner ofcutting thisimportant line istha t the line should begin atthe topvery fine. In fact, the com m encem ent of the line shouldbe finer than the hair line which constitutes the balanceof the letter, as it gives it additional be au ty and gr ac e.And ifthe line was cut up, the graver cannot as easilybe made to run out to as fine aline as it can be made toma ke in the beginning. Th ere fore to the student Irec-ommend this manner of execution.To one dexterous in the use of the graver the line canbe cut up very effectually by running the point ofthegraver gradually to the left, on arriving atR, as thegraver is turned to the right, and continuing in like man-ner to A, from which point to D it is run bac k aga in tothe line as the turn of the gra ve r to the right, toeffectthe shade, is d ecrea sed. Inorder tohave the shadeequal on both sides of the center of the "line of beauty"it is necessary to cut the line when cutting up as abovedescribed. T his m anne r of execution will give nearlythe same effect as the one mentioned abo ve , pro videdthe hair line is continued to the end or top and th ro w nout to a fine line.

The points Ihave referred to are not noticeable in finescript w ork , but are tho rou gh ly exemplified in hea vy orlarge script lett er ing , such as is cut on coffin p lates andlarge pieces of silver and plated hollow ware.T h e sin (I think I am justified in giving the appella-tion of sin, as it is asin against good taste) prevalent incutting the capital stem as above mentioned is, instead



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of turning the graver up to afine hair line, it is thrownin deeper atthe top, thus leaving the end heavy andblunt.



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CHAPTER V.Ea rly in the beginning of these chapters the writermentioned asand b ag pad on which articles a re heldwhile being eng raved . Y ea rs of experience and care-ful consideration of allpossible improvements to beapplied tothe art ofengraving, and noting insuchexperience the necessity of apad on which could beheld articles rounding, such as pieces of atea set, prizecups, etc., highly polished, and not m ar them , holdingthem more firmly than would be possible with the ord-

7=>LAT 5

inary sand bag pad, the writer has experimented tosome extent to devise such atool as would answer thepurpose, and the result ofsuch experiment is a turntable, asectional view ofwhich isshown on Plate 5,which will revolve perfectly easy.In the top A of the turn table, which is made ofoakwood, acircle pad, such as isused with the LancasterEngraving block, will just fit in the grooves FF. Withthe pad laid in the groo ves m entioned, the rea de r willconceive that by placing asoft chamois skin over thepad he can put any rounding and highly polished articlein this section, by so covering, and hold the sam e ve ryfirmly. W he n he desires to turn the same w ith his left23



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24 MODERN LETTER ENGRAVINGhand to make acurve inthe letter, instead of turningthe article on the pad , the en tire top of the turn tablewill revo lve on the pivot B , which pivot is m ade of brass.A ll othe r pa rts, except the thr ee screw s, are made ofwoo d, at avery moderate cost.Should the engraver desire to engrave such aplate asthat which we are now, atthis stage ofour course,engraving upon, or acoffin plate, the same is nailed to athin piece of wood, similar to acigar box cover, and laidflat onto the rou nd pa rt of pad, and turn the same asthough we were engraving it on an ordinary pad, exceptthat the top of the turn table turns on apivot instead ofthe article w e are eng raving turning on pad, and turnsmore freely.If we have in hand to engrave asmall article, such asa m atch box, that m ay be highly polished, the same isplaced on afour inch pad , which pad isplaced in thecenter ofthe circular pad, and inorder tohold theformer pad inposition, we nail orcement a leatherw asher, such as a re used on carr iage s, of asize thatwillfithe hole inthe circular pad. N ow the reade rwill note that with apad so arranged on our turn table itis aneasy matter tohold with our thum b and indexfinger of th e left hand such articles as highly polishedsilver match boxes, hat m ark ers , coat m ark ers, andhundreds ofother little articles of similar description.In turning the same to make the curves inthe lines thetop of the turn table w ould revolv e, thus holding thearticle firmly on the pad, not moving the same on the padat all. T he re fo re the object of this device is obvious, andwill demonstrate to the reader the fact that he may takefrom any silversmith's stock any article and engravesame without marring or scratching the underside of the



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IN THEORY AND PRACTICE. 25article to be en gra ved. W hile with the plain sand ba gpad in order to make the curves on the article which weare eng raving, i t is very necessary to turn the same, thusmarring and scratching the side opposite the one beingengraved, and after same is engraved it isnecessary todo much polishing to put the article in its original con-dition, making unnecessary work, and in many cases itis impossible to put the article inits original state. Ofcourse, asoft Chamois skin can be laid over the ordin-ary pad, and which would, of course, extenuate thetendency to mar the article, but even with this operationthere will be more or less scratches on the article whenfinished.

Perhaps some ofmy readers would say that agoodengraver would not turn the article on the pad at all ifit was highly polished; to such Iwish to state that it ispossible to do so, but is far from be ing practical. It ismuch easier to turn th e article with the left h and, as weturn the graver with the right, thus expediting thecurves.In engraving, many strokes, which are directly oppo-site, it is necessary to reverse the article, either by turn-ing it around or picking it up and turning it around andlaying itdown again, which, ofcourse, isvery unrea-sonable.The turn table above described, is, in the writer's esti-mation, avery valuable article, and can be made by anygood wood turner for about two dollars; the circularpad can be had for one dollar, and the four inch pad forfifty cents.It may be made in some parts of metal, while the onedescribed, to be made in acheaper way, ismade ofwood, and may have aball bearing.



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A graver stand would, perhaps, be of little use to thestudent at this stage, but as the one shown atplate 6 isa very good companion piece tothe turn table justdescribed, and the same being avery convenient anduseful article for theengraver , I will at this timedescribe it.T h e center piece A can be mad e any length desired ;about ten inches is agood length. T h e piece B, throughwh ich the gr av ers are placed, is about one inch thick,

VLATE 6 O

and eight inches in diameter; base C issame size. Inall the re will be thre e pieces. T h e re can be two row s,holding fifteen totw enty gra ve rs. Th is stand, placedon atable, the engraver can turn itaround and readilyselect the graver wanted, and by keeping them inthisstand they are free from any danger of point beingdam aged. T h e piece Bturns onshoulder of centerpiece A.The writer has had agreat many of these made, andwhen ordering only one at atime they cost but $1 .50,and Iam sure the reader would rind it agood invest-



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IN T H E O R Y A N D P R A C T I C E . 2*]ment. T he y can bemade by any good wood turner,and if made ofoak wood itmakes avery handsomeorname nt for the w ork bench. T h e one shown at plate6 is designed very plain, but can be made as ornamentalas desired, using the same idea.Every man has, or should have, some paramountobject in business life which will employ his mind andfill his heart. If engraving is the reader's object ofaccomplishment, Itrust he will cultivate taste and seekperfection, and remember that perfection, (as near as weare able to reach it), is accomplished by continual prac-tice and study of the art.It being the object of these ch ap ters to soinstructthat there can be noimpediment todiscourage thestudent inhis cupidity for the art, and having experi-enced, in personally instructing students, the expediencyof not only the correct formation of each and every let-ter inthe script alp hab et, but the corr ect m ann er ofengraving same. Ishall go thro ug h the alphabet withthe reader, and carefully consider cutting every line ineach letter, that we may thoroughly understand whichline to cut first and last, the beginning and end ofsame,and such study cannot do otherwise than elucidate to thestudent's entire satisfaction.



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CHAPTER VI .Owing to the fact that there isembodied in this styleof lettering nearly all the curvatures and cuts necessaryto form ulate any othe r style of lette rs, itwill notbenecessary to spend as much time on those that will fol-low ; co nsequently we will begin with the letter A . T hestudent, ofcourse, must now rem em ber that we haveexplained the line of beauty, and, in consequence thereof,will not consider that part of each letter toits fullest

T'JLATZ

extent, but refer tosame, and expect the student todepend upon the contents of his cranium toreveal tohim that which he has been instructed in.Referring to plate 7, the letter A is engraved by cut-ting the line ofbeauty indirection ofarrow, and thefirst stroke in the letter isto cut this line as formerlydescribed; after which, the graver point is placed at thetop of the letter, at the point of line A, and cut down,



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IN THEORY AND PRACTICE. 29beginning with ahair line and shade as the gra ve r ispushed forward by gradually turning same from you tothe right, and so continue until the maximum width ofshade is reached, from which point the graver isgrad-ually turned back to the left, or toward the operator, asit ispushed forward and so continued until the linereaches the minimum width, at which point it isthrownout by raising the graver and giving same ashort quickturn tothe right, thus bringing the incision up to afine point and even with the surface of the plate atthecenter of the loop B.After turnin g the plate or article you are en gravinghalf around on pad, the line ispicked up again atthefine point where itwas thrown out and continued upto center ofloop atC, holding the gr av er parallelwith plate and cutting a fine hair line. H ere it isthrown out asbefore, plate turned half around, andthe line again picked up, wh ich iscommenced by ahair line, but as the graver ispushed forward it isgradually turned tothe right to effect the shadedesired until graver point arrives at the cross lineD , atwhich point the shade reaches the maximumwidth, and from this point the graver isgraduallyturned up tothe left, thus decreasing the sh ade asthe graver ispushed forward until just before cross-ing the loop atB, from which point it iscontinueda hair line.

In designing script letters the beg inner should drawthree guide lines; one for the top of letters, one for thebottom, and one between the two for acenter guide. Ido not show the lines refe rred toher e, as the re beingother more important drawings necessary to make plainthe manner of execution, which, with the guide lines,



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3O MODERN LETTER ENGRAVINGwould be apt to confuse the eye as to the formation ofthe letters.

To engrave the letter B, the capital stem iscut first;next, the graver point is placed at the center of the loopat the center ofthe right of the capital stem , whichloop is just above the center guide line, with the lowerline of the same resting on the center guide line.T h e student will note, therefo re, tha t this loop is ave ry little above the cen ter. Pu shin g the grav er for-ward, cutting ahair line until the turn is made, then thetool is gradually tu rne d to the righ t to effect shad e, andup again to ahair line, as previously mentioned, for suchshading, and thrown out just asthe capital stem isreached, where it ispicked up again and continuedaround to A, shading as shown, which shade is executedsame as for shading the letter A.

N ow , turn the plate half arou nd and pick the line upagain and continue ahair line to the end. By pickingup the line, I do not mean toplace the graver in theincision just cut, bu t to begin closely to the same as pos-sible. Next, begin at the center ofloop, at B, and cutup to the line previously cut u p ; throw the gr av er outand pick up again on other side of the line and continueto the center ofthe loop, resting against the capitalstem. N ow , as the plate is in this position, the hair lineat the left of the center of loop, at B, is cut, beginningat end and cut down to B.C isengra ved by beginning atthe end ofthe leftstroke and cutting down to A, where the graver is thrownou t; next cut down from the cen ter ofloop at B tocenter ofloop C, holding plate insame position asgraver isthro wn out at A . Pick the line up atcrossline A, and cut up to center ofloop B; turning plate



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IN THEORY AND PRACTICE. 31back tothe left, beginning atcross line C, cut uptocenter ofloop D , w here gra ve r is throw n ou t; turningto the right avery little, the line is picked up and con-tinued around to the end.W hen the graver isthrown out from a shade thereader will remember hemust gradually raisethegraver, turning it up from the right to the left, at sametime gently lifting up on gr av er , by which o peration ,with ashort quick turn to the right, the gra ve r pointwill leave the incision coming out to afine point.Thestyle ofscript here shown isve ry plain, and canbemodified from this general form toany desired style,after the student has passed throu gh the first ordeals oflettering, and embelished to suit his artistic eye.I wish toexplain to the read er th at the illustrationshe re shown cannot be as perfect asthey should beengraved, as the cuts are etchings, and must not belooked upon as samples of eng rav ing . T h e w ork will,howeve r, be as perfect as is req uired to exemplify theformation of the letters and the manner of engraving thesame.The letter D is engraved by cutting the line of beautyor capital stem first, the low er end of which is atthecross line A . N ex t b eginning at the cross line C, cutover tocenter ofloop A; reverse plate onpad, andbeginning atcross line C cut ahair line up to D; nowturn plate avery little to the right and pick the line upon the opposite side of capital stem and continue aroundto B, where grav er isthrown out, plate turned to theright, line picked up again and continued to end.

The letter Eis considered by most students adifficultletter to en gra ve . App rec iating this fact Ihave endeav-ored to arrange alittle frame inand around which this



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letter can be easily designed and engraved. Such aframe is shown atFig. 2, plate 7, where A representstop guide line, B the center guide line, and C the lowerguide line. The line D, which is supposed to be on anangle of 45 degrees , is the angle guide line. Sk etchingthe letter around this angle line, allowing the center loopof the letter to be made just above the center guideline, I fail tounderstand how any apprentice wouldfind itdifficult to execute; atany rate I feel sanguinethat its use would be conducive to symmetrical forma-tion.To engrave the letter E, first begin at the center ofloop C and cut down to E. The reason for engravingthis lower portion first isthat by so doing we have theaid ofsame for guide when cutting the shade strokeabove. N ext, begin atcenter of loop B and cut downto G,where the graver is thrown out, plate turned a littleto the r ight , the hair line picked up and continued tocenter of loop C, turning the plate around to the left togain the proper position tobegin the upper left handstroke, which is cut down to A and graver thrown out;after turning the graver to the right sufficiently to placethe line in proper position in front ofgraver , the line iscontinued up to center ofloop F, where the graver isthrown out, plate reversed, and hair line picked up atsame center and continued around to B; now, turn plateback to the left, and placing the graver point atcrossline E, the hair line is continued up to center of loop D,graver thrown out, plate turned, and line continued toend; and thus endeth the laborious task of engravingthe letter E.To engrave the letter F, as with all letters, the mainbody stroke, or capital stem, is cut first. The lower end



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IN THEORY AND PRACTICE. 33of this line of this letter isat cross line A, the finishingcut being made inthe direction ofarrow around tomeet the line ofbeauty, after which begin atthe pointof V, at the top ofthe letter, and cut around to B,where the graver isthrown out, picked up again afterturning the plate a little, and continued around to theend; residue of top stroke iscut in the direction of thearrow, beginning at the point at V.The line crossing the line ofbeauty can be madeasshown, or astraight line across the center gives averyneat appearance.



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CHAPTO >Vil.T h e word alphabet is derived from two G reek char-acters, and signifies the lett ers of awritten languagedisposed in their regular order.Among the Greeks and Romans the invention of let-ters was generally attributed to the Phoenicians; but theEgyptians took the initiatory step toward the perfectionof aphonetic system of writing when they made theirhieroglyph ics the signs of articulate sounds. In E gy pt ,however, the phonetic system was ever imperfect, inconsequence of the expression of the same sounds bymany symbols, and the use of the same symbolstoden ote m any different sounds, it rem ained for the Phoeni-cians to bring order out of this chaos.Their newly invented alphabet the Phoenicians madeknown throughout the ancient world, and from iteveryother alphabet isdirectly orindirectly derived.Theresem blance betw een some of its ch aracte rs and theirhieroglyphic originals isvery decided, and may still betraced, even in anumber of our English capitals, essen-tially the same asthe symbols of the La tin alphabe t,which were borrowed in turn from aGreek source.Tradition variously ascribes the origin ofletterstoThoth, an Egyptian; to Odin, aScandinavian God, andto Cadmus, the Phoenician.Tacquet , inhis " A rithm etical T h eo ry ," informs usthat the various com binations ofthe alphabet, withoutany repetition, will am ount to 620 sextillions, which isequivalent to infinity.While the beginner in the art of engraving may thinkbefore he has finished en gra vin g the twen ty-six letters

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IN THEORY AND PRACTICE. 35in the alphab et that it isworthy of traditional mention,for the benefit of the student Iwish to quote the num-ber of letters in the different languages derived from thesource above mentioned.T h e English alphabet contains 26 letter s; the Fr en ch ,25; the Italian, 22 ; the Spanish, 27 ; the Ru ssian, 4 1 ;the Hebrew, Samari tan, Syrian, and Chaldean, each 22;the Arabic, 28; the Persian and Egyptian, each 32; theTurkish, 33; the Georgian, 36; the Armenian, 38; theSanscrit, 50 ; the Ab yssinian, 20 2; and the In dianorBrahmanic, 240.Thus noting the many vicissitudes which the origin ofthe English alphabet has passed thro ug h to reach thatpoint of perfection that it has in the nineteenth century,the student should feel grateful that there are only twen-ty-six letters in the alphabet to thoroughly master.

The letter G, Plate 8, is engraved by first cutting theleft hand shade down to A; next begin at center of loopB, cut down to C; next place the point of the graver atthe top of the capital stem D, and cut down to V, whichplace denotes the point where the finishing cut and endof the capital stem m eet. N ow rev erse the plate andcut the hair lines in direction of the ar ro w s. Of co urse ,the finishing cut atthe end of the line ofbeauty ismade previous to cutting these lines.To engrave the letter H the short left hand shade iscut first, which shade is cut both up and down, but not insame manner as the double cut in line of beauty.A magnified view of this cut is delineated at Fig. 2.The reader will see that the shade is made by placingthe point of the g ra ver at line B and as gra ve r is pushedforward it isimmediately turned over tothe righttomake acut the maximum width of the shade, and as the



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36 MODERN LETTER ENGRAVINGgraver is turned over as it is pushed forward the cuttingedge of the graver will extend over to line A, while thepoint of the g rave r will travers e the rig ht hand line ofthe shad e from point of the line B . A n end view of thegr av er in position to m ake this cut is shown at F ig .3,where A and B are supposed to be the same as in Fig. 2,C Cline represents surface ofthe plate . T he grav er

is thro w n out at end of the shade as formerly describedfor com pleting such shades . T h e plate is nowreversed, point ofgraver placed at Aand the upperpart ofthe stroke manipulated insame manner asdescribed for cutting the down stroke, this double cutisof vital importance, and ifthe student cannot execute itaccurately, Iwould advise a short stop at this pointand continual practice, cutting this double cut untilefficiency has cro wned his efforts. T h e necess ity ofthis manner ofexecuting this stroke isthat it shouldcome up to afine point exactly the same at the top as



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IN THEORY AND PRACTICE. 37at the bottom, agraceful turn tosuch point, and it isutterly impossible to make it inany other m anne r andobtain the same result.Now while the graver is inposition as itleaves theshade at the top A, it isagain inserted and th e line Acontinuing tothe end in direction of the arrow; whilethe plate is insame position the line of beauty orcapital stem is cut down beginning at point C, while theplate is in position as the end of the cap ital stem is fin-ished, the finishing cut at the end ism ade. N ow placethe point ofthe graver atD, center ofloop, and cutdown to F ; reverse plate, and m ake the upper shade of theline ofbeau ty. C ut hair line from Bup to C, nextplace the graver point at the right of the shade strokefrom D to F and cut the hair line up to D . W ith plate insame position cut hair line from Fup to Ewhere thegraver is thrown out.The graver is thrown out at center of all loops.Thegraver isagain inserted atcenter ofloop Eand con-tinued to end of line. W hile the plate is in this positionthe hair line crossing the two main strokes iscontinuedto end, in direction of arrow.After the capital stem of the letter Iis completed thegraver is placed at the top of said line and continued toA, thence the hair line to the end.Let ter Jis cut by first cutting the main body s tro k e :next the graver is placed at the top of said line B and con-tinued to A; while plate is insame position the lowerloop is cut by beginning at the left ofcapital stem andcutting indirection ofarrow to C; the plate isnowreversed and the residue ofthe hair line mentioned ism ade. W hile the plate isin this position the hair linefrom A is cut to the end.



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The letter K is engraved the same as the letter H forthat part which is the same asthe letter H , for whichthe shade from the cen ter of the capital stem iscut inthe same manner asthe double cut above described,except that the said cut should be avery little heavier asit nea rs the bottom at D . T h e hair line at the right andtop is cut from the cen ter loop up and -the cut at the endexecuted in same manner as described for making similarcut at end of the line ofbeau ty. N ow place the pointof graver at D holding same up straight or parallel withplate, which position isnecessary for cutting hair lineand cut from D up to C, thence to the end of the line.The let ter Lis en gra ved by first c utting the upp erleft hand stroke down to A, then the line ofbeauty iscut down, plate reversed, line of beauty shade completed,hair line cut from A up to B, graver placed a little to theright of the loop C, the shade across the line of beautyat the bottom ismade by beginning at the point V andcu tting in direction of a rro w to the end of th e line, brin g-ing the shade up to ahair line asdelineated, withoutthrow ing it out. R ev ers e the plate, place th e point ofthe gr av er a t V and continuing the line to the center ofthe loop C; this cut ismade by some engravers bybeginning at the center ofthe loop Cand continuingthe line to the end. M y object in star ting the line fromthe point V is that we can make a better loop by cuttingit around to the right, than we could by cutting it aroundfrom the left. T h e expediency ofthis mode of proced-ure will manifest itself to the practioner by practicingto execute the cut in both ways.

In engraving the letter M we begin at the top and cutfour lines down as follows: first the line of beauty, nextshade from Eto A, this shade stroke is either cut up or



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IN THEORY AND PRACTICE. 39down only, orboth, cut one way in cheap work, nexthair line from Dnearly down to A asdelineated,next shade from D toB , reve rse plate, cut up strokeof shade from A toE, hair line from BtoC, thenceto end.



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CHAPTER VIII.The letter N, Plate 9, is engraved by cutting the line of

beauty first, after which place the graver point at top ofsaid line Aand cut down to B , which shade isshadedboth up and down asdescribed forshading lineofbea uty. In cheap w or k either cutting up or down onlyis sufficient; the reason for cu tting both ways in finew ork is tha t by so doing w e get m ore beautiful effects.

T h e hair line from B up to V is eng rav ed in the samemanner as hair line ofbeauty.L et te r O is eng rave d by first cutting from A to B andnext from C to end of line. R ev er se plate, beg inning atthe end of line cut up to A, next place the graver pointat cross line B and cut up to C.Let te r Pis engraved indirection ofarrows andasdescribed for eng rav ing the letter Bas much of saidletter as is the same as letter P.T h e letter Q is eng raved the same as the letter O w herethose pa rts ar e the same style as said letter. T h e linefrom center ofloop D is cut when the letter is made ona large scale, both w ays, half shade being cut inone

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IN THEORY AND PRACTICE. 41direction the other half the other, but for small capitalsa cut can be well ex ecuted by mak ing itone continualstrok e from cross line D to the end.The letter R iseng rave d the same as the letter B,except the lower right hand stroke which stroke isengraved from the center of center loop down to D, thesame as described for engraving the same stroke intheletter K, continuation of said strok e being eng rav ed thesame as described for engraving that letterThe let ter S isen gra ved by first cutting the up pe rleft hand stroke down to B , next the capital stem fromcenter of loop A down topoint V; now reverse theplate , cut shade of line of beauty up as formerlydescribed for making such shades; then place the graverpoint at cross line B, cut up to the center of loop A.The letter Tis engraved according to the arrows andas mentioned forengraving the letter F, which twoletters are the same except that in the Tthe cross linein the center of line of beauty is absent.T h e letter U is eng rav ed by first placing the gr av erpoint at cross line H and cutting down to center of loop C;next place the graver atthe top of strok e K : it is laidover so as to cut the line the width of shade desired, andpushed forward, holding the graver on same angle untilnearly to the cross line E , w he re it is gradually turnedup to the left, and thro wn out at cross line E . T h e topof this stroke should be perfectly squa re, and on alinewith the guide line. It isquite impossible to insertasquare graver in cutting such astroke, so as to makeitas desired; the appearance of the strok e m ade in them anner described would be as at F ig . 2, the point Abeing w here grav er is pushed in, but before the gra ve rreaches its maximum depth inthe incision, the cutting



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ed ge of the gr av er would be nearly as far down if notentirely so, as shown at line B . T his diagra m may bean exaggerat ion of the manipulation ofthis importantpoint in cu tting this line, it of co urse depen ding upon theangle to which the graver is sharpened infront, but inmost cases the stroke would be inappearance about asshown at Fig. 2: ifnot as m uch as th ere delineated itwould be on angle instead of being square or flat withthe gu ide line. N ow in ord er to squa re this line up thegraver point isagain placed at point A and the strokeC is cut. T h e cut as shown at C ismade by pushinggraver indirection ofarrow C, which cut will squarethe shade perfectly, and ifmade as itshould be, it willbe almost impossible to detec t th at the second cut hasbeen m ade . T h e student will, ofcourse, understandthat the cut C will be placed down on the angle fromB to AFig . 2 ; ave ry little practice will enable thestudent toexecute this line dexterously.In cutting the letter U, after this portion has beenengraved, the plate isreversed and the graver point isplaced at cross line Rand cut up to A . T h e studentwill note therefore that this line is adouble cut, placingthe graver at cross line A cut down to B center of loop,

turning the plate the graver isagain inserted and thehair line from B finished; next the hair line from C upto that point of the shade as m ark ed by line F . N owplace the graver point atcross line Eand cut up to D,turn the plate around to the right and cut from D to theend of line.To engrave the letter V, plate 10, first cut the doublecut from B to C ; next cut the main b ody strok e, afterwhich cut the hair line from B over to the end, next hairline from C up to A, next the hair line from the bottom



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IN THEORY AND PRACTICE. 43of the letter up to V, after which make the little cutat the end which meets the hair line at the point of theletter V.The let ter W iscut the same as the letter V; itembodying the same strokes, it is not necessary to directthe student 's method of procedure.T h e letter X , wh ich is seldom used , is eng rav ed byfirst cutting from Cup to A, reverse the plate and cutfrom G to E . T he se being the main body stroke s, theresidue of th e lette r iscut indirection of arrows, and

the manner of procedure according to directions hereto-fore mentioned for cutting such loops.The let ter Y isengraved by first cutting the downstroke of the line of beauty, at which time the finishingcut is m ade at the en d : nex t cut half of the double cutfrom B to D; reverse the plate, shade the beauty strokeup and the upper half of the shade stroke from D to B,throwing the graver out atthe center of the loop B,turning the plate sufficiently to gain the proper position;place the graver point atcross line B, continue to C,where the graver is thrown out, the line picked up againand continued to the end . T h e hair line from D to A isnow cut, which finishes the letter.



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44 MODERN LETTER ENGRAVINGThe last letter of the alphabet, Z, is cut first by begin-ning at the center of the loop A, and cutting down to C.

T hi s line is not shad ed. N ex t, placing the gra ve r at thepoint of the reversed V, cut in direction of the arrow overto B where graver is thrown out and hair line continuedto the end. R ev er se plate , beg inning at point of V justm entioned , cut around in direction of arro w to cen ter ofloop A . W hile plate is in position as this strok e is cut,place the graver point at the point of V and cut in direc-tion of arrow to end of hair line, the graver is graduallyturn ed u p to left after shade is m ade, and continued a hairline, not throwing the graver out until the end of the hairline is reach ed. N ow reve rse the plate, and placing thepoint of the graver at the point of V last mentioned, cutin direction of arrow over to C

Thus ending the instructions for cutting the capitals ofthe script alphabet, Iwish to impress upon the student'smind afew points ofvital importance tohis successwhich Ihave in going through the course of instructionsthus far, endeavored to so instruct that he might accom-plish his work in the most beautiful and at the same timeeasy m ann er. Do not forget that in cutting aloop thatthe gr av er should beg in and end in the cen ter of samewhen cut inopposite directions. By so doing you willbe able to execute aloop in its proper formation, where,if otherwise executed, it would be impossible to make agraceful curvature.In going throu gh the alphabet Ihave mentioned manytimes the line of beauty, capital stem and body stroke;this Ihave done for the reason that the line referred to isknown by the three names mentioned, and as one of thethree is known ifnot the entire number, to all engravers,I have mentioned all three for the benefit of those who



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IN THEORY AND PRACTICE. 45are not familiar with them, thereby being able to speakintelligently to all in reference tothis important line,and where Ihave mentioned either of the three I havereferred tothe main body stro ke of th e capital lette r.In reference to the cutting of this line when shaded bothways, Iwish torep ea t the fact that som e of our besteng rav ers cut only one w ay, shading u p strok e, but forreasons that Ihave previously mentioned Ideem itexpe-dient for the operator tocut the line both ways, andafter he has enabled himself to dexterously execute thisline he is atliberty to use either one of the w ays forcutting it. I should, however, recommend the cuttingof the line inboth ways; but in cheap engraving, ofcou rse, we a re not supposed to en ter into all of thesepoints of accura te execu tion, and therefore the studentcould shade this stroke inone cut by following thedirections mentioned for cutting the line of beauty in thebeg innin g of instructions for cu tting said line, the doub lestroke such as atcut B to Cin the letters V and W,would state that it is best that this cut be made by cut-ting both up and down, for reasons I have delineatedfor such cuts. H ow eve r, many expert eng rav ers onlycut one w ay , either up or dow n, in brig ht cut w ork onsilver orplated ware. I often cut only one stro ke tomake this shade, and that either up or down as is mostconven ient, but usually cut up . But for fine w or k onpolished material, such as gold watch caps, where a deepand most perfect cut is requisite, I cut first down, thenup. Ifthe reader will notice afine piece of en gra vin gon aSwiss watch cap he will there see that the cutsmentioned are cut both up and down, and the effect ismost beautiful.



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CHAPTER IX.Now tha t Ihave by the aid of the arrows, guide lines,

cross line m ar ks , etc., guided the student into the bestmanner of engraving the capitals of the script alphabetin referring to such strokes infuture instructions Iwillof course take itfor gra nte d th at he understand s thecorrect manipulation of all strokes and cuts that we havegone through in engraving the alphabet .To the student who is extremely anxious to advancewith the 19th century rapidity, Iwould most earnestlyadvise not toendeavor tocut either the figure or thelower text letters until he can with some degree ofexactness exec ute the letters w e hav e gone over. By thismethod you will be more sure of rapid success in com-pleting your studies of engraving.W e will now consider cu tting the figures, in the styleappropriate for combining with the capitals we havebeen instructed in.T h e figure 1, Pla te 10, isengraved by cutting thebody strok e dow n first, w hich issquared up at thebottom asmentioned for squaring up the top ofthemain stroke in the letter U ofthe capitals previouslymentioned; as the graver is thrown out at the bottomit will appear as shown at A ofthe diagram in thefigure 1, and the student will the refo re note tha t it isnot flat w ith the lower guide line. In ord er to m ake itso, cut B ism ade by pushing the gra ver forward indirection of arrow by placing the point of the graver atthe point where the lines C and H meet and cutting onan angle in direction of the arrow, which will perfectlysquare the bottom of the figure with the guide line.

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IN THEORY AND PRACTICE. 47In design ing figures it isnecessary only to draw thetop and bottom guide lines.The figure 2is eng rave d first by placing the gra ve rpoint at V and cu tting up to A, w he re the g rav er is throw nout, line picked up again and continued to B . A s th egraver is thrown out at B it isplaced again at the pointof V and the main stroke iscontinued to the en d; nowreverse plate and placing the graver point just above thelower end of main body line, cut the stroke C to the end

in direction of ar ro w . T his can be m ade one continuouscut if the tool is hand led skillfully. It is som etimes m adeby cutting both ways, i. e., a double cut, such as has beenexplained. N ex t cut the hair line from cross line B toend.In en gravin g the figure 3, we cut the first shade tothe right by placing the g rav er point atcross line C,

cutting up to D wh ere the gr av er is throw n out and againplaced at line E , and cu t up to cross line A . T u rn in gthe plate, place the gr av er point at the cross line w he reit was throw n out and cut around to the end of the line,while the graver is inthis position. N ow place th egr av er point at D and cut over the end ofthe centerloop. In small figures this loop is imitated by ho lding thegr av er p arallel as in cutting th e hair line it is thro w n indeep, which cut gives an appearance of aloop. If thefigure is large it is of course made aregu lar loop. N owplace the graver point at end of line Fand cut up to B,where the line is continued, and cut hair line around to Cin direction of ar ro w .In engraving the figure 4, place the graver at the topof line C and cut dow n, squa re the same by the aid ofextra cut asdescribed for squaring up the bottom ofthe figure 1. Next cut from the center of loop A up to



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B, squaring the top as formerly described; now placethe gra ve r point at V and cut the cross line to the en d;rev erse plate, placing the gra ve r point at beginning oflast line, cut topoint ofV and cut over to centerofloop A.Figure 5 isengraved by beginning atcross line B,cutting up toA . N ext the line connecting the topstroke with the bottom part ofthe figure: now placegraver point atend ofstroke Cand cut indirectionof arrow, and cut into line D; now place the graverpoint atcross line Aand cut down to E; next placethe gr av er point at V and cut a round tocross line B,and thence m ake the cut X , asdescribed for makingcut at the end of the line of beauty, which cut should bethe same as said cut.The figure 6 is eng rav ed by placing the gra ve r pointat cross line A and cutting dow n to C, thenc e up to B andcontinue hair line to the end. N ex t ma ke the cut at thetop and right, wh ich is cut the same as the cut Xforfigure 5.In en gra vin g the figure 7, the main body strok e is cutthe same as in the figure 1. N ext the stroke trom B to Ais executed by starting at afine point and gradually turn -ing the graver over, throwing the same in deeper as it ispushed forward so that it will be blunt on the end wherethe graver isthrown out; the little point at A will behigher than the residue of end of said cut, and when thecut at the top is made inthe direction and formation asshow n, will m eet this cut so tha t the little point referredto will be visible, thus making the finishing to the figure.The figure 7 is avery beautiful figure when accuratelymade, and is indeed avery awkward and homely figurewhen otherwise executed.



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IN THEORY AND PRACTICE. 49The figure 8 isengraved inmany different ways.T h e one used mostly for small figures, size that would beengraved inside of an ordinary w edding ring, is engravedby first cu tting from cross line C to line B, where thegraver is bluntly thrown out, or, in other words, the chipin front of the graver is broken off by lifting graver up.Now reverse plate, and the graver point placed at crossline A, cut down, gradually turning the graver to theright to execute the necessary shade which meets in thecenter of the figure, the line wehave cut up to B. Ifthisis done as itshould be when the line crossing the shadestroke mentioned ismade, itwill entirely obliterate thevisible meeting of the two lines. T hi s cross line is cutby p lacing the graver at B and cutting up to A; next onopposite side of the shade from line B and cutting downto C in l ike manner. Ifwe are en gra vin g this figure ona large scale the line would be engraved by one continu-ous stroke, as described for engraving the line of beautywhen itis engraved by making one stroke only. T he semethods of engraving this figure are theones most prev-alent.In engraving the figure 9, cut from cross line B up toA, next from A to C, then the end cut ofthe figure at

the bottom is made as described for making such cut inin figure 6; next hair line from Cis cut.Figure o is engraved by cutting from A to B, and fromB to A. The graver should begin at center and end inthe center of the loop. Thestroke should curve equally onboth sides to gain the correct formation ofthe figure.Figures 3 and4shown at the right of oare engravedin direction of arrows and according to cross lines thereshown. Itis not necessary for me to direct the studenthow to cut these two figures, as same cuts are embodied



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5O MODERN LETTER ENGRAVING

in the figures we have just described. Ishow the 3 and4 of adifferent style, as the style we h ave shown is usedto some extent, and ifthe student prefers them to theones formerly described, they will harm onize w ith theother figures in style shown.



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CHAPTER X.

Before we consider engraving the lower letters of thescript alph abet, abrief cons ideration of va luab le acce s-sories tothe correct symmetrical formation of samewould be expedient.As has been formerly stated, the script letters shouldlay over to the righ t on an angle of abou t 45 de gr ee s.PLATC //.

It has been my expe rience in instruc ting stude nts tha tmany fall short of the exact conception ofan angle of45 degre es, without the aid ofan angular circle of aprotractor. A pro tractor is ahalf circle and acompletecircle consisting of 360 degrees, a protractor wouldtherefore consist of 180 de gr ee s.A simple form of aprotractor with only the 5 anglesshown is delineated atFig . 2, Plat e 11 , th e half circlecontaining 180 de gre es divided into four equal p art s,each part would be from line to line 45 degrees apart;

sx



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the line o being perpendicular, and the line or bottom ofthe perpendicular 90 being horizontal; a line drawn fromthe apex on aline crossing the arc half way between oand 90 would therefore be on an angle of 45 degrees .Such an instrument as above described can be easilymade by the student or he can purchase them with all ofthe degree registers stamped thereon atthe stationers.I should advise all beginners to purchase such an instru-ment, they being made of celluloid are very inexpensiveand their use to the student is conducive to exactness inthe formation of letters and grinding angle of gravers .As geometrical drawing is required to make the pro-tractor mentioned and to obtain the various angles thata student may need ingett ing any desired angle insketching, copying or mounting up tools, we will brieflyconsider same as may be required for such work as theengraver will be called upon to execute. At Fig. 3, isshown acomplete circle with the perpendicular H and45 degrees angles drawn, also asquare inside of thecircle. T h is circle with these lines, except the 45 degreeangles, are ofradical importance tothe engraver informulating inscriptions ordesigning and engravingmonograms of all styles. As we now consider it, wewill expect the student to remember the details when weadvance to that stage in the art of engraving monogramsas we will there have occasion to refer to it.If we t ake our compass and make acircle with it, weof course have our center, but there are many articleswhich come to the engraver which are perfectly round,and in designing on such articles any style of lettering,it is necessary that he know the center point of s am e ;itis the rule of many engravers to draw the zero and 90degree lines and guess at the center, this may do very



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IN THEORY AND PRACTICE. 53well for the well cultivated eye that can draw such linesand obtain the desired central point with some degree ofexac tness, but th er e a re m any cases tha t call for finerclasses ofwork, where it isnecessary that we knowgeom etrically w he re such ce nter is, and especially toto the student, therefo re w e will now consider how tofind the cente r of the c ircle.In order to find such center it is first necessary to learnhow to erect aperpendicular on astraight line.

Referring to Fig. 4, assuming D tobe the point online ER, at which aperpendicular isto be drawn, oneither side of Dm easure with you r compass equaldistance from D, Dto R, D to E; from Eand Rwiththe radius abo ut equal to the distance ER, draw twocircular arcs cutting orcrossing one another; if theirpoint of intersection Fbe joined to D the line D Fwillbe the required perpendicular.To find the center A ofthe circle, mark on the cir-cumference 3 points, AB and C, Fig. 5, join A to B,Cto B , at the middle point of each of these lines erect aperpend icular as above described. After ma kin g suchline the point of intersection of these perpendicularswill be the center of the circle.

Now that we know how to find the center of a circle,and that we know the manner of erecting aperpendicu-lar line, the next thing nece ssary tomake the variousangles is tolearn the best method ofsubdividinganangle into equal pa rts. Inaddition tothe use oftheprotractor for such purposes, we may use the followinggraphic method, which is perhaps amore scientific modeof procedure-Referring to Fig. 3, suppose we wish to draw a linehalf way between 45 and 90 angles, we open our corn-



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pass, now place one point of the compass at 45 degreeline and draw an arc to the left, now place one point ofthe compass at90 angle line, and draw another arccrossing the one previously drawn; now aline drawnfrom the point where these two lines meet to the centerof our circle will be equal distance between 45 and 90ang le lines; our circle can thu s be divided into as manydegrees as desired.

After making the angles in our circle, the student canplainly see that in order to make the square inside ourcircle all that isnecessary is todraw aline from 45degree angle atthe left tothe same line at the right,thence to the 135 degree angle, thence to the left to thesame angle, and from this angle to the 45 degree angleor place of beginning.Now we are in full possession of the knowledge nec-essary for the work that we have in hand.At F ig . 1, isshown a very useful article for theengraver, especially on very flat work; it is aparallelrule, with the aid of which astudent can draw parallellines with gre at accuracy . Such aparallel rule can bemade by the student or can be purchased atthe sta-tione rs, of ebony, for 35 cents, being m ade by Keuffel& Esse r C o., of N ew Y or k city.The student may look upon these drawings as unnec-essary to accomplish the art of e ng rav ing . T o those ofsuch an opinion Iwould state that he isin error; it isobviously plain to the student who is desirous of doingwork accurately that by acquainting himself with theuse of such implements, and aknowledge of such draw-ings cannot do otherwise than place him in apositiontoexecute his work accurately and being able to provesuch accuracy in ascientific m anner. After the student



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IN THEORY AND PRACTICE. 55has become an expert engraver it may then not be nec-essary to use such tools as Ihave here described, onlywhen doing work of ahigh class, but ifthe studentbecomes proficient in the use of such tools he is starting onthe right road to success, and he will shortly know bycomparison with the work of those who deem suchaccurate method of procedure inexpedient, that hisworkis far more symmetrical and the reasons for such accur-acy is demonstrated.

I cannot too forcibly impress upon the mind of thestudent the necessity of using all methods of work thatwill accomplish the best results, and that Imay at thistime give the student the assurance of the advisabilityof following such lines, Iwish to quote from that nobleand honored personage, whom all Europe admires andloves, and whose advice cannot be otherwise than pre-eminent, Igive the following from the pen of Mr. Glad-stone in his advice to young men:" Be sure that every one of you has his vocation onthis earth and that it rests with himself to find it. Donot believe those who too lightly say,* Nothing succeedslike success.' Effort, hones t, manful, hum ble effort,succeeds by its reflected action, especially in youth, bet-ter than success, which indeed, too easily and too earlygained, not seldom serves like winning the throw ofdice, to blind and stupify. Get knowledge all you can.Be thorough in all you do,

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Modern Letter Engraving