Stippling - What bits?

P. McKinley

P. McKinley

Joined
Jan 27, 2008
Messages
2,010
I'm starting on a knife handle and wood sheath which both require a stippled design. I have never tried this technique.

What bits do I need for my Dremmel?
Is there a particular technique that has worked well for you?

Than you,

Peter
 
Stippling is normally done with hammer and punch, or a powered engraver or carving tool that is like a tiny jack hammer. I don't see how you would do it with a Dremel. Simple stippling would be a round pointed punch. Another type is a triangular pointed punch.
 
well, I guess there is stippling and there is stippling. You will have to decide on the size of round bit you want by just giving them a try on scrap. For metal all I find necessary to do is to use a pecking motion. Frank
 
LRB said:
Simple stippling would be a round pointed punch. Another type is a triangular pointed punch.
Click to expand...

Ok. I can see that.

Frank - I've already done some practice and I didn't have much luck with the teeny ball-point bits I have. It just didn't look right.

Thanks guys.

-Peter
 
Stippling is easily done with a common electric engraving marker. They cost about $15. With just a little practice, you can duplicate a sand-blast finish, or crank it up and do heavy stippling.
 
While a power graver works fine ( with a diamond point) at making tiny dots, larger divots are made with a flex shaft or Dremel tool and small carbide bits. The thing you need is fast speed. Go slow and it will walk on you every time. Use the ball burr at about a 30° angle...not straight on. Practice on scrap wood and metal until you get it down.
 
A jeweler I know uses an L shaped piece of wire in his flex-shaft tool to make a stippled effect on some of his work. I'm not sure if the same technique would work on harder metals or not...
 
That reminds me of an experiment I though about trying and never did. We jewelers use a rotary bit called a fly cutter. It is a shaped diamond edge mounted on the rim of a small diameter wheel ( about .25"). As the cutter rotates, the diamond makes "cuts" in the metal it is passed across. The effect is called "Diamond Cut". Depending on the shape of the cutter, the cut can be flat bottomed or "V" shaped. Because the diamond is so hard, the cut surface is bright and shiny. This might be a good look for accenting a ricasso. I will have to give it a try. Unfortunately, these cutters aren't cheap, and can be damaged fairly easily if misused, so I'll have to go gently. They are normally used in softer metals, like gold, but I think it should cut steel....we will find out today.
 
bladsmth said:
That reminds me of an experiment I though about trying and never did. We jewelers use a rotary bit called a fly cutter. It is a shaped diamond edge mounted on the rim of a small diameter wheel ( about .25"). As the cutter rotates, the diamond makes "cuts" in the metal it is passed across. The effect is called "Diamond Cut". Depending on the shape of the cutter, the cut can be flat bottomed or "V" shaped. Because the diamond is so hard, the cut surface is bright and shiny. This might be a good look for accenting a ricasso. I will have to give it a try. Unfortunately, these cutters aren't cheap, and can be damaged fairly easily if misused, so I'll have to go gently. They are normally used in softer metals, like gold, but I think it should cut steel....we will find out today.
Click to expand...

Be careful, hardness will not affect the diamond, but shock will. Think carbide and interrupted cuts.
 
Carl,
I use carbide all the time on steel....I was just going to see if the diamond cutter would cut a clean and shiny "V".




OK
I just tried it, and it cut OK on annealed steel. It didn't like hardened S35VN, so I didn't push it. The flat and curved cuts on the annealed steel had a lot of chatter, but the "V" and "line" cuts were crisp. Since it would have to be hardened anyway, I will just stick with carbide cutters after HT.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top