Process
Most engraving is done by first laying out a broad, general outline onto the plate. This is commonly referred to as etching. After this step is complete the artist can move on to actually engraving the work. The tool most commonly used for engraving is the burin, which is a small bar of hardened steel with a sharp point. It is pushed along the plate to produce thin strips of waste metal and thin furrows. This action is followed by the use of a scraper to remove any burs, since they would be an impediment during the subsequent inking process. It is important to note that engraving must be done in the reverse or mirror image so that the image faces the correct way when the die prints. One trick of the trade was for engravers to look at the object that they were engraving through a mirror so that the image was naturally reversed and they would be less likely to engrave the image incorrectly. Steel plates can be case hardened to ensure that they can print thousands of times with little wear. Copper plates cannot be case hardened but can be steel-faced or nickel-plated to increase their life expectancy.
Read more about this topic: Steel Engraving
Famous quotes containing the word process:
“Because her instinct has told her, or because she has been reliably informed, the faded virgin knows that the supreme joys are not for her; she knows by a process of the intellect; but she can feel her deprivation no more than the young mother can feel the hardship of the virgin’s lot.”
—Arnold Bennett (1867–1931)
“The process of discovery is very simple. An unwearied and systematic application of known laws to nature causes the unknown to reveal themselves.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“A designer who is not also a couturier, who hasn’t learned the most refined mysteries of physically creating his models, is like a sculptor who gives his drawings to another man, an artisan, to accomplish. For him the truncated process of creating will always be an interrupted act of love, and his style will bear the shame of it, the impoverishment.”
—Yves Saint Laurent (b. 1936)