Metal engraving allows you to create personalized jewelry such as bracelets or pendants. Techniques vary depending on the material, with engraving tools for gold-plated and silver items, and a Dremel for stainless steel or mother-of-pearl. For best results, choose the right tools for each metal and practice until you master the technique.
Metal engraving lets you create personalized jewelry. An engraved bracelet, a personalized pendant, an engraved necklace… These are gift ideas that are sure to touch the heart of whoever receives them. Of course, right now, you’re probably wondering how to engrave metal. Well, we have the solution! In this video, Lucie shows us metal engraving techniques so you can learn how to engrave on your own.
What tools do you need to engrave metal? There are various tools available for metal engraving. In this video, Lucie chose to use ImpressArt engraving punches, a Dremel Engraver, and a micro-engraving pen.
Before you begin, prepare your piece by attaching a protective wire to your jewelry pad. This will help protect your findings a bit while you’re stamping.
Use a stamp guide to both hold the charm in place and help you align the letters as you position them.
Practiceon a separate plate or a piece of metal to get a feel for the spacing and double-check your letters. Be very careful with your fingers.
Measure your draft carefully so you can center it on the charm you’re going to engrave. Mark the beginning and end of your word with a black marker. Follow the tape to ensure the lines are straight. You’ll notice that the charm is slightly marked on the back, but much less so than if we hadn’t used the protective tape.
Write your message with a black marker. To avoid ruining your engraving due to vibrations from the Dremel Engraver, secure your gold-plated charm in polymer clay. Once secured this way, it won’t move during engraving. Set the Dremel’s power to 1. Watch your fingers. Let’s get started!
When you’re done, wipe off the marker with a cloth.
It’s possible to engrave a Gold filled medallion using punches. But pay close attention to the thickness of the sheet metal you’re using. If it’s too thin (as in our video), the charm will be embossed.
To avoid this, we recommend using a charm that is 0.7 or 0.8 mm thick.
As with gold-plated jewelry, write your word by hand with a black marker on your Gold Filled blank. Then use your Dremel. There’s a lot of vibration, so be sure to practice until you get the hang of it!
Once your word is engraved, wipe off the marker with a soft cloth.
Keep in mind that with Gold Filled, engraving will alter the gold layerand cause it to tarnish more quickly.
How do you engrave on silver? It’s the same process as for the previous materials. You can use engraving punches or the Dremel Engraver.
Place your tape to ensure your letters are properly aligned and spaced.
If your 925 Sterling Silvercharm or pendant has a ring, position yourself at the edge of the anvil so you aren’t obstructed.
Once you’ve finished engraving, you can accentuate the design by darkening the letters with a marker. Wipe off any excess with a soft cloth.
Caution: If you’re using an ink marker, do not submerge the jewelry in water, as the color may fade.
As before, position yourself at the edge of the stamping block so you aren’t hindered by the ring if your pendant has one.
Draw your pattern with a black marker. Set the Dremel’s power to speed 1 again and trace your pattern. Wipe off the marker with a soft cloth.
How do you engrave on steel? Engrave the steel with your Dremel. Create a pattern, write a first name, or mark an initial to make a beautiful piece of personalized jewelry. The punch technique can be used on 304 stainless steel jewelry findings, but only with punches specifically designed for stainless steel. Since stainless steel is a very hard metal, you risk damaging the tips of standard punches if you use them.
Time to switch tools! This time, we’ll use a Micro Engraver with a diamond-tipped bit to engravemother-of-pearl or seashells. It’s used just like a Dremel.
However, mother-of-pearl is too fragile for engraving tools. Avoid using them so as not to damage your jewelry component.
What about you? What kind of engraved jewelry are you going to make? Feel free to show us the results of your creations on our Facebook page and our Instagram page!
Of course, like all the jewelry-making techniques we share with you, it takes practice, practice, and more practice! We can’t say it enough: patience and perseverance are the keys to your success. Get started and don’t give up!
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Perles & Co, Internet & E-Commerce company [01/05/2022] Any reproduction, representation, adaptation, in any form whatsoever, even partial, is prohibited, except for reproduction for private use not intended for collective use, representation in the family circle (art. L 122-5 CPI) and online publishing on condition that the source is mentioned and a link is included to the corresponding page of our site www.perlesandco.com.
