Hand engraving is regarded by many people as a dying art in this era of pursuing efficiency. Indeed, we have to admit that the number of people who still insist on hand-engraving is gradually decreasing, and now most of the engraving works are completed with laser engraving technology. Although the laser engraving technology can indeed reduce the time consumed in the engraving process, but the laser engraving technology engraving works are only limited to 2D flat pattern, and the engraving out of the pattern is particularly shallow. Compared with laser engraving, a prominent advantage of hand-engraving is that hand-engraved works will be more vivid, after all, most of the hand-engraved works are three-dimensional. And hand-engraved works have a variety of characteristics, hand-engraved works of spiritual charm is machine engraving can not be easily replicated.
History of Hand Carving
Throughout the development of human civilization, hand-carving has actually been a chronicler of the development of human civilization for a very long time. Hand-carving has enabled the creation of a wide variety of designs on a wide variety of materials, from cave paintings to wood, to glass, and to a wide variety of metal sculptures. Hand-carving has a unique charm all its own.
Hand-carved works are not only easy to keep, but also completely show people’s pursuit of art and beauty, and can also help people to express and transfer emotions. For example, engraving a name on a watch, engraving a name on a genealogy when a new life arrives, etc., are all expressions and transmission of emotions.
Why is hand carving on the decline?
You may be wondering why hand-carving, which has such a long history of development, is declining. In fact, the reason is very simple. The cost of training hand carvers is very high. Generally speaking, it takes at least 3 to 5 years to train a qualified hand engraver. And the emergence of laser engraving has taken away the market of hand engraving to a certain extent. So now, hand engraving is mostly regarded as an art in its own right. Only some of the fine jewelry brands still use hand engraving to make jewelry, but this is possibly because more customers approach these brands for private custom jewelry.
Top Reasons to Learn Hand Carving
1. More diverse forms of hand-carved works
As mentioned above, the use of more laser engraving, but laser engraving this form of engraved works can only be a flat pattern. And hand-carved compared to the form is too single. Hand engraving can reach the depth of the laser engraving can not be achieved.
2. Only hand-carving can carve a relief pattern
As far as current technology is concerned, only hand engraving can accomplish the engraving of relief patterns. Relief is characterized by the carving out of the pattern has a variety of different levels, and laser engraving is obviously not done.
3. Hand-carved pieces are more clearly layered
One of the limitations of laser engraving is that there are no distinct layers to the work that it creates. But hand engraving is different, professional engraving craftsmen can use a variety of different sizes of engraving tools to shape an engraving work. Moreover, professional handmade master engraving out of the work of the hierarchy is able to be seen at a glance.
What is the cost of learning to hand carve?
1. Zero cost or low cost but time consuming. By low cost, I mean that you can spend no money at all or a small amount of money. You can buy a book on carving and the basic tools (you can even just buy a hammer and chisel, or if you have a small budget you can buy a pneumatic engraver as your carving tool). Then learn to carve slowly according to the description in the book. If you don’t have the patience to read a book, you can go online and search for some forums related to engraving. Generally speaking, there are not a few professionals on the forums. You can search for the questions you are interested in (you’d better try to search for a few more, after all, these resources are free), and then collect this information and make a consolidation at last.
2. It costs a small amount but takes relatively less time. If you have more than enough time to be able to take some carving classes, then you can also choose to pay for a private or public class. Although enrolling in a class may cost you a fortune in the beginning, it will save you money if you learn the proper way of carving in the beginning. This will save you a lot more money in the future. For example, if you learn to carve on your own, you may have some habits that aren’t very good in the beginning, and a professional teacher will help you correct those habits. Another example, in most cases, the carving teacher will teach you to choose the right carving tools for you instead of those expensive ones. Sometimes, suitable is more important than expensive.
3. If you can find a carver who is willing to train you that is also a good option. What I’m talking about here is not the same concept as paying for a class above. You can find a carver who has his own studio and tell him that you would like to trade your time and labor in exchange for him teaching you carving techniques for free. If you are lucky enough, you can find such a carver. But most carvers will not actually agree to this very quickly because the time it takes to do this is actually very long, so some carvers will not be willing to spend this time which can be as little as a few months or as much as a few years.
