From left to right: 5.5" and 9" Sandbags, Arkansas Stone, a Crocker Sharpener with an India Combination Stone and Sharpening Stone Oil in the background; and McClain's Six Engraving Tool Set in the red box plus a variety of open stock tools.
These high carbon steel tools are the ones you need for engraving. Engraving tools are made to carve end-grain wood and alternative hard substrates like Polystyrene, Corian and Sintra. They will not work on plank wood or plywood; for these surfaces, you need wood carving tools.
The blades on the Angle Tints, Elliptic Tints, Flat and Round Gravers, and Multiple Line tools are 2.75" long; total length with the handle is 4.6". The blade on the Burins is 3.2" long, total length with the handle is 4.9". The smallest marks are made with Size 1 tools; the larger the size, the wider the mark the tool makes.
What the Tools Do
- Angle tint tools cut straight lines easily, often to give tone to areas of the print.
- Use elliptic tint tools for drawing or outlining.
- Multiple line tools are all 1/8" wide, and create multiple parallel lines with one stroke.
- Clear areas of the block with the broader round gravers or flat gravers.
- Burins are traditionally used on copper plates, and also work very well cutting Resingrave. Use to make lines of varied width.
- The stippling tool is excellent for raising a burr as well as making dots.
Engraving tools come from the manufacturer "factory sharp," which means they are given a basic shape, but they need to be sharpened in order to carve well.
Sources for end-grain wood or other substrates for engraving can be found at the WEN (Wood Engravers Network) site: woodengravers.org
For more information about engraving materials and sharpening engraving tools, please go to Learning Center and look under "Engraving."