Metal working is a very important part of the jewellery making process, so naturally picking the right metal working tools for you is of great importance to jewellery makers. High-quality jewellery working tools will not only increase your productivity, but also allow you to experience jewellery working to the fullest extent possible. The topic of today's article is to teach you how to pick the right metal engraving tools for you. If you are interested, read today's article with me!
What are the common jewellery engraving tools?
Hand engraving tools
Hand engraving tools are more suitable for beginners when they are new to jewellery engraving. Manual engraving tools on the market include carving knives, chisels, and needle engraving tools. Manual engraving tools are not as efficient as machine engraving, but for novice jewellery makers, manual engraving tools allow them to master the art of jewellery engraving more quickly. Also, when using a manual engraving tool, you can feel the engraving tool changing in your hands.
Pneumatic Engraving Tools
Pneumatic engraving tools are relatively more efficient when compared to manual engraving tools. So, if you need to carve a large number of engraving works, pneumatic engraving machine is a good choice. However, it is important to note here that pneumatic engravers are more suitable for those who already have some experience in jewellery engraving.
Also, if you do decide to buy a pneumatic engraver, you will need to consider whether you are buying a pneumatic engraver that needs to be connected to an external air compressor, or one that comes with a built-in air compressor. The difference between these two types of engravers is that the one that needs to be connected to an external air compressor may be a bit more powerful to use. But, obviously, you can't think of it as an on-the-go engraving tool. The kind of machine that comes with an inbuilt air compressor will have a little lesser range of actual power to use, but it will be easier to carry the machine around.
Electric Engraving Tools
Since there are pneumatic engraving machines for sale in the market, there must be some electric engraving machines as well. Electric engraving machines use an electric motor as the driving force and the motor is bound to heat up after a long period of time. That's why when you are using a pneumatic engraving machine you have to stop every now and then to rest for a while.
But electric engraving machine also has its own advantages, for example, the internal structure of electric engraving machine does not include compressor, so it will be more convenient to carry. In addition, an electric engraver is a great engraving tool for novice jewellery makers. Its operation is relatively simple compared to other types of engraving tools.
Material and quality of engraving tools
If you have already determined the type of engraving tool you want to buy after reading the above paragraph. Then the next thing you need to consider is what the material and quality of the product you need to buy is like.
In fact, the raw materials of the products sold in the market vary. If you don't know how to choose the material of the engraving tools, you can choose the engraving tools that are made of high carbon steel or stainless steel. These materials are very good at resisting wear and tear, and will stay sharp even after a long time of use.
Apart from the raw material used to make the engraving tool, you can also look at the design of the blade of the engraving tool. Also, if you are going to a brick and mortar shop to buy a carving tool. You will be able to try out how the engraving tool feels in your hand, whether it meets the ergonomics of human design and so on.
What is the budget to invest
The cost of capital is also a very important determining factor when a novice is picking out an engraving tool. While in general, a higher budget will generally allow you to purchase higher quality tools. But not everyone's budget is able to be generalised, and you can buy the right carving tools for you within your means.
If you have enough time, you can set yourself up with an estimated amount of money to invest. You can think about how much money you will need to invest in several ways. For example, what kind of requirements do you have for your carvings, do you just need to make jewellery, or do you need to make something in some other category? Then decide what type of making tools you need to buy. Then it is, you can make a list of the products that you need to buy and then how important each tool is. Depending on the priority of the tool and your money situation go for the products with a higher priority rating. Lastly, if you find that the tools you have purchased are not very effective in actual use, you can subsequently adjust your purchase plan.
Avenues for purchasing goods
Generally speaking, the three more common ways to purchase metal engraving tools include brick and mortar shops, online shops, and the second-hand market. Let me analyse these three ways of buying.
1. Brick and mortar shops
One of the most prominent benefits of buying from a brick-and-mortar shop is that you can see the quality of the tools you're buying, and there's absolutely no chance that they won't be of the right quality. And, if you're lucky, you'll be able to negotiate a lower price.
2. Online shop
The good thing about online shops is that you can browse through a wide variety of items without leaving your home, and once you've paid for them you can wait at home to receive them. Before you buy an item, you can check the ratings of the shop where the item is located and see what people who have already purchased the item have to say about it.
3. Second-hand market
In the second-hand market, you can buy some second-hand goods at relatively low prices. However, the lower price sometimes does not mean that the quality of the goods is also proportional to the price. As long as you choose carefully, there is still a high probability that you can buy high-quality goods.