Engraving
Engraving: Modern Uses, Ancient Origins
Engraving is the art of etching an image into a hard surface, usually copper, using a sharp tool. The end result might be a work of art unto itself, or it might provide a printing plate, used for making prints or illustrations on paper. Because engraving by hand is difficult and time-consuming, it's an unusual hobby these days, but the process has been technologically advanced and many industries are helping to develop laser engraving and photoengraving machines.
While hand engraving is still practiced, the original hand engraving tool, a small handheld chisel called a burin, has been improved over time. Little of the old-fashioned burin remains but the handle. Today's burin is operated by pneumatic pistons within that handle, driving the point at speeds of up to 15,000 strokes per minute, similar to a small-scale jackhammer. This increases accuracy with the engraving tip and decreases the amount of effort required from the engraver. Today, hand engraving can be done to personalize or embellish jewellry and guns, and some industries employ hand engravers to mark die-cutting tools with part numbers, trademarked symbols, or logos.
Machine Engraving
Modern banknotes, paper currency, checks, and other papers requiring a high level of security are still printed using engraved plates, due to the fact that engraving is extremely difficult to counterfeit. A normal printer or scanner is not able to accurately reproduce an engraved image. The originals for these prints are engraved by hand, sometimes by several different engravers to increase the complexity of a counterfeit attempt. Engraved cylinders of steel with a thin copper coating are used in publication, decorative printing, and packaging; these cylinders are usually engraved by a machine.
While engraving is normally done on metal surfaces, most often copper, some designers of house number signs offer engraved stone house number signs and address markers. These stones are often made of poured concrete, slate, granite, or marble, and while the tools used in engraving them are different from those used in engraving copper, the methods are very similar.
Modern Engraving Methods on Stone House Number Signs
There are several possible methods of engraving stone home signs. Deep cut engraving involves high-pressure, high-precision sandblasting to 'cut' family names and addresses into the stone's surface, using a computer graphic as an initial layout. Since this method relies on a computer graphic and the skill of the person weilding the sandblaster, it is the most easily changed and flexible design method.
Etching the stone involves lightly engraving, sandblasting, or burning an image onto the stone's surface with a laser cutter. The image is then filled in with paint or stain to increase visibility when the stone gets wet. The longevity of this type of house number sign depends on how well the colored fill can withstand weather, because the shallow cut on the stone's surface tends to disappear when wet.
Machine cut house number signs are popular because they're fairly cheap and easy to make. On this type of house number sign, the letters are cut into the stone's surface using a pantograph machine, much like a large jig saw. The machine's cuts are deep and easily legible in all conditions. Many house number signs of this type are painted. Thanks to the depth of the cuts used during engraving, machine cut house number signs are still legible and attractive after the paints have worn away; however, due to the limitations of the machine used, there is a very narrow range of designs and fonts available.
The least common and most expensive method of engraving stone house number signs is by hand, using a hammer and chisel. A letter cutter lays out the letters and numbers on the stone's surface in pencil, usually aligning them by eye. Then each symbol is carved out of the rock by hand. Finding a letter cutter in this day and age is nearly impossible, and although you would have a unique, personalized house number sign, the cost would be very high.
The Future of Engraving
Mechanical methods of engraving in mass production are still the most cost-effective and flexible, but the development of laser engraving machines is underway. Whether this process becomes streamlined by advanced technology or not, engraving is one ancient art form that remains practical and necessary for modern industry.