Hi, I'm new to hand engraving and knives.

My name is Sarah and I have been repairing and making fine jewelry out of gold and platinum for 12 years. I recently took a class from Ray Cover and decided it was worth my while to invest in the tools of the trade, and got to work immediately on a few budget knives.

Attached are photos of my second knife. I'm having fun. Jewelry is so small and knives are huge canvases for artwork. I would like to get started on my next knife project, which will be either the Böker Scout Solingen or The Böker Lancer 42 in steel. I thought this community looked like the correct place for me to be to connect with other people doing this kind of thing and get feedback and sell the knives I engrave.

Thank you very much!
Edit: Does attaching files not actually work on this forum? I have tried everything.

Here is an IMGUR album.

Beautiful work! I love an engraved Buck 110 and this one hits the perfect point of embellishment without clutter. I especially like the skull (at first I thought it was a sea monster head)!! Looking forward to more images.
 
Thank you! I only have a sample size of two right now. I am brainstorming ideas for the Scout Solingen. I hope to have some solid designs started in Illustrator by the end of the weekend.

The other knife I engraved is a Kershaw Leek. I stole it from my husband as my first try engraving a knife.
Funny, my wife "liberated" my Kershaw Leek, too!
 
Funny, my wife "liberated" my Kershaw Leek, too!
That's wonderful. I did give it back to him. It is "ruined", I guess. His jimmies get all rustled when he doesn't feel it in his pocket. But he carries it anyway instead of a different knife. shrug
 
That's wonderful. I did give it back to him. It is "ruined", I guess. His jimmies get all rustled when he doesn't feel it in his pocket. But he carries it anyway instead of a different knife. shrug
Buy him a new Leek, sell the now enhanced Leek for more than you paid for the new Leek. Buy wine with profit, forget about husband. ;) I took the liberty of googling you and found your website. I'm posting a picture of the "ruined Leek"so you can hear some opinions on it. I hope I haven't overstepped any boundaries. All of your work looks amazing.
vNaMv8Z.jpg
 
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Hi SarahLadd SarahLadd

You are gifted, and so is Ray Cover. I have worked with him for decades. I can't wait for you to get in the realm of the handmade makers, who use engraving regularly.

I supply a resource for visuals on my second website: www.KnifeGallery.com

Look in there, especially in my dealer folders for the finest engravers on the planet. You will be inspired.

I look forward to showcasing your work someday soon! 👏

Coop
 
Buy him a new Leek, sell the now enhanced Leek for more than you paid for the new Leek. Buy wine with profit, forget about husband. ;) I took the liberty of googling you and found your website. I'm posting a picture of the "ruined Leek"so you can hear some opinions on it. I hope I haven't overstepped any boundaries. All of your work looks amazing.
vNaMv8Z.jpg
Thank you! I did buy him a new leek. He won't use it. I had no plans to sell this leek and he has been carrying it for about 4 months now in his pocket and the engraving no longer looks new. I don't think he's too worried about it. He brightens like a dog that heard "squirrel" when someone asks for a knife.
 
Unfortunately titanium is the most common metal handle material for higher-end knives over $100 or so. 😂
In this last week as I have published my final complete photos of "Fox" online, I think I have received somewhere in the realm of 40 to 45 requests for commissions. A solid half of them want me to engrave their titanium item. I posted to a Face Book group and read every comment, almost 200- The number of folks I had to explain, "no, I can't do titanium, it breaks my stuff, I'm new and I don't know what to do about that yet" - Was pretty high! I have turned all requests down so far as I don't feel I am ready for that. I am just getting started and I want to enjoy the journey.

I joined this forum partly to lurk around the people actually making knives in their own shops, so that I may one day collaborate with someone... However, I happen to have a machinist and an engineer enthralled enough in my quest to assist me in reverse engineering scales from popular "quality" manufactured knife models where no steel scales exist, such as the McBee and Pochi. The shape of the handle is the most important feature to me, second to all the other nice things about a good quality knife. I fussed with a CRKT Squid for a while, because it can be acquired in steel and the handle is wide to accept more detail on a scene. However, it's "I only paid $20 for this"-quality shows in its action, function, presence of some plastic parts and an unfortunate amount of blue locktite on screws making disassembly needlessly challenging.... Handles like the Police are pretty narrow. I want to start doing inlay but I'm not doing it in titanium, not now, not for a good while, potentially ever if I can help it.

At least 3 separate people messaged me specifically to tell me that I am sinking my career by not working on titanium. As a jewelry designer, I make almost everything I sell out of 18k yellow gold. It's my favorite material, my favorite color, and the most pleasurable to work with. It has never stopped me from selling out of every piece I make. This may potentially just be hubris speaking, but I don't think they're right, and I can likely enjoy this craft without forcing myself onto a material that sucks the joy from the process. Time will tell, perhaps this comment will age poorly, lol.
 
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95% of the engraved work which comes to me from ALL over the world is NOT titanium.

That's a notable EDC segment of the knife population, but NOT the majority by far. It's a deserving market for someone...

You keep on keepin' on.....
 
At least 3 separate people messaged me specifically to tell me that I am sinking my career by not working on titanium. As a jewelry designer, I make almost everything I sell out of 18k yellow gold. It's my favorite material, my favorite color, and the most pleasurable to work with. It has never stopped me from selling out of every piece I make. This may potentially just be hubris speaking, but I don't think they're right, and I can likely enjoy this craft without forcing myself onto a material that sucks the joy from the process. Time will tell, perhaps this comment will age poorly, lol.


Or perhaps you can create a niche for yourself where you are comfortable, happy, and can provide others with something that brings you as much joy as it does them. Beautiful work, much respect, from Canada.

David
 
95% of the engraved work which comes to me from ALL over the world is NOT titanium.

That's a notable EDC segment of the knife population, but NOT the majority by far. It's a deserving market for someone...

You keep on keepin' on.....
I just got my reply back from Ray on titanium. He assuages my trepidation by confirming that commercially pure titanium is cuttable and actually pretty nice, but nothing in manufacturing is made with it. I have to collaborate with a knife maker. I hope someday I find a knife maker that would enjoy working with me.
 
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