Glass Engraving the Drill Technique by Stuart & Shirley Palmer (The bible for the drill engraver)

Photos from top to bottom - 1- Front cover; 2- Back cover; 3- Pages 140-141; 4- Mr. and Mrs. Palmer.

Glass engraving the drill technique by Stuart and Shirley Palmer:

This is a MUST HAVE if you are serious about drill engraving and want to learn to do quality glass engraving (thought it is out of print) you can still find it on Amazon.com (used) and if you check daily (like I do) you can find it at a great price. I got one once (yes because I have like 5 copies and do not ask me why) I got one for like $7.00 – The first one I got was sold to me by Lesley Pyke for over 100 dollars (not shipping included) lol Now you can ask me how I felt when I found it for $7.00 (no hard feelings to Les though, she is a nice lady and a business woman) she was just doing her business! =0) Now back to the book… if you find it and you can afford it BUY IT! If you are really into glass engraving as it is worth it!

It has some beautiful pictures (the kind that make you gasp a bit) and very detail information, from how to set up a drip system to polishing; to safety and what are the burs mostly used… it has it all! One of the longest chapter in the book is about lettering for the engraver and it goes into detail on how to set up a piece from spacing to movements of the hands when one engraves letters… about 18 ½ pages from 101 – 139 pages of lettering! There is a chapter about polishing, I have read the book about 6 times and to be honest the polishing chapter is not that great. Though it tells you a lot more than any other book I have read about the subject I feel they should of really dug in and told us more! Specially because every new engraver wants to polish everything! The book also goes it detail about the history of glass, the types of glass the book is really nice. So here is the break down:

Pages: 187

Chapters: 8

Chapter 1) Glass II:

Lead crystal; Soda Glass, Window glass, plate glass, toughened glass, Optical and white glass, Borosilicate; Couloured glass, case glass and flashed glass; Cullet, old and antique glass; shapes, selecting and buying glass; Faults, bubble and stones; Ridges and ripples; Stress lines, Finding stress lines; other visible faults; Where to buy glass, Retail outles; Wholesale outlets, Manufacturer’s shops , Commissioning glass.

Chapter 2) Equipment and safety 29

How to choose a drill; lightweight drills, Flexible-drive drills; Cord-arm drills; The micro-motor, Air driven drills; Heavy duty drills, Handpieces; Chuck and collet; Twist grip or quick release; Angled handpieces; Diamond burs and wheels; Stone and composition wheels; Polishing wheels and cylinders; Polishing pasters and powders, Mandrels, arbors and adaptors; Felt polishers and bristle brushes; Magnifiers, Lighting; Dusk masks; Dusk extraction systems; Ear muffs, Eye protection, Supports for glass; Use of water; Posture; Other useful items; Cleaning glass; General safety and hygiene.

Chapter 3) Design

Choosing the glass; Designing in the round, Drawing the design; Balance; Counterchange; The outline or silhouette; Black holes; Using both sides of the glass; Transferring the design to the glass; Tracing; Large scale work.

Chapter 4) Basic engraving

Organizing the work space; Lights and magnifiers; The drill and burs; Smooth surfaces; Edges; Lines; The quality of line; Rules lines; Horizontal guidelines; Vertical guidelines; Drawn textures and half tones; Natural textures; Deeper engraving.

Chapter 5) Lettering for the engraver

The advantages of the drill; public awareness; Quality lettering; Capital letters; Compressed and italic capital letters; Capital letter widths; Roman letter problems; Letter spacing; Lower case letters; Layout on glass; Flat panels; The direct method; The calculated method; Curved glass; Plates and dishes; letter cutting technique.

Chapter 6) Polishing

When to polish; How to polish with rubber wheels, Achieving a high polish; Other wheels and polishing materials, Polishing awkward corners; Polishing out mistakes.

Chapter 7) Heraldry

The background of heraldry, reproducing a design, The achievement; The crest; The mantling and wreath; The helmet or helm; The shield; The supporters; The motto; The rule of colours.

Chapter 8) Intaglio and relief engraving

Simple forms, planning and designing; The human figure; Working methods; Engraving from the back; Engraving more than one surface; Relief or cameo engraving; Cased or overlaid glass; Large scale architectural work.

Biography

Suppliers

Index

There you have it – It can’t be more clear than that =) if you think I copied and pasted that – Well you are wrong! I typed the whole thing; I am sure if it was my regular paying job I would of not want to hehehe – The things we do for the love of the art!

I am also including a few photos, I wanted to include a photo of Mr. and Mrs. Palmer, simply because I think it is important to give each artist credit for what they create. And if you are like me you tend to be a bit curious in regards of what they look like. This book is great and I might just read it for the 7^th time.