{"id":1896,"date":"2015-06-21T22:23:06","date_gmt":"2015-06-21T22:23:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/metalwerx\/?p=1896"},"modified":"2015-06-21T22:23:06","modified_gmt":"2015-06-21T22:23:06","slug":"pneumatic-hand-engraving-with-tira-mitchell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/metalwerx\/2015\/06\/21\/pneumatic-hand-engraving-with-tira-mitchell\/","title":{"rendered":"Pneumatic Hand Engraving with Tira Mitchell"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/tiramitchell.com\/\">Tira Mitchell<\/a> started big but keeps getting smaller&#8211;her hand-engraved projects, that is. What began as a gamble to start a career led to being recognized as one of the country\u2019s most highly-regarded engravers of fine jewelry, heirloom knives, custom guitars, and fast motorcycles. Yacht cannons, musical instruments, elegant firearms, bells, cars and ostrich eggs\u2014she\u2019s worked on all kinds of items for more than two decades.<\/p>\n<p><img class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalwerx.com\/blog\/Mitchell-knife-handles.jpg\" alt=\"Knife handles\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em><strong>A selection of engraved knife handles, by Tira Mitchell<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Tira keeps her hands and carpals fluid and pain-free by using a modern technological marvel, the pneumatic hand engraving system. The hand piece looks similar to a traditional graver, but the electrically controlled device that runs off compressed air allows the user to have more control over cuts. Novices learn more quickly how to guide the graver, and instead can focus on the pattern and progress of the project.<\/p>\n<p>Tira will teach <a href=\"http:\/\/www.metalwerx.com\/workshop\/738\">\u201cPneumatic Hand Engraving\u201d<\/a> at Metalwerx August 4 through 9. The workshop is aimed at beginners. Participants will each have their own pneumatic system to use during class, and will practice on steel, copper, and brass before starting on a project of their own design on a steel pendant or dog tag.<img class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalwerx.com\/blog\/Mitchell-initial-tags001.jpg\" alt=\"Initial tags\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em><strong>Initial tag featuring traditional scroll engraving.<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Tira had already been engraving eggshells with simple rotary tools when she moved with her family from Omaha to northern California in 1995. A former computer programmer for Fidelity Investments, she wanted to create a business that would be in place by the time her kids were older. \u201cI came across engraving and thought, that\u2019s pretty magical,\u201d she said. \u201cI wanted to know more about what it was, and found someone to teach me, who was two hours away in Modesto.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That teacher was Benno Heune, who, while convalescing in a Pearl Harbor Hospital in 1944, charged twenty-five cents a word to engrave guns and knives for his fellow servicemen. Back on the mainland, after closing up a sporting goods store he ran for 20 years, Heune began to practice and teach engraving full-time. He later wrote an influential book, \u201cEngraving Tips,\u201d and was celebrated for his art on guns. \u201cIt\u2019s the highest art,\u201d Tira said. \u201c &#8220;Engraving is a very technical art form. \u00a0Not only does it take time to practice and perfect, but the artist has to make his or her own tools too.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalwerx.com\/blog\/Mitchell-Close-up-of-knife-blade-and-handle.jpg\" alt=\"Knife blade and handle\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em><strong>Close-up of damascene knife blade and engraved handle<\/strong><\/em>, <em><strong>by Tira Mitchell.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>She can recall the day she walked into a custom Harley-Davidson motorcycle shop in Fairfield, CA, and asked the shop manager if he\u2019d take a chance on her. He told her if she invested in training and tools that she could do a motorcycle. That first bike ended up on top of a slot machine as a grand prize at Harveys Lake Tahoe Casino. Word of her artistry got around, and people began to seek her out. Today Tira counts among her many projects custom work on limited editions of Martin guitars. Her engraving appears on the tuning buttons of a very special guitar on display at the company, the <a href=\"http:\/\/guitarinternational.com\/2011\/01\/14\/namm-show-2011-martins-1-5-millionth-guitar\">one-and-a-half millionth guitar<\/a> produced by Martin, a tribute to Leonardo Da Vinci.<\/p>\n<p>Tira and her husband, Robert, operate <a href=\"http:\/\/www.engraver.com\/\">Engraver.com<\/a> an online business which specializes in the time-saving pneumatic engraving tools, including the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.engraver.com\/brands\/Syenset.html\">Enset tools<\/a> that students will use in the Metalwerx workshop. She will teach basic tool making, graver sharpening, layout, scroll design, and\u00a0 also will discuss the theory of hand lettering. Advanced concepts, such as background removal and gold inlay, will be demonstrated. Traditional engraving is still done today by physically pushing a graver across metal, but a pneumatic system allows you to work on harder metals such as steel, reducing the learning curve&#8211;and fatigue.<\/p>\n<p><img class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalwerx.com\/blog\/Mitchell-CufflinksSilverMetalWerx.jpg\" alt=\"Silver cuff links\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em><strong>&#8220;Rob and Tira&#8221; ambigram cuff links, by Tira Mitchell. When read upside down, one name becomes the other.<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s very relaxing,\u201d Tira said. \u201cWhat drew me to it was that I could spend the rest of my life doing better and better. There\u2019s always something more to try. My classes are for people who like the idea of engraving metal but haven\u2019t really done it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There are a limited number of spaces available for \u201cPneumatic Hand Engraving.\u201d To sign up, visit the Metalwerx website or call 781-781-3854.<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8212;by Yleana Martinez<\/em><\/p>\n<p><img class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalwerx.com\/blog\/Mitchell-SPendant02MetalWerx.jpg\" alt=\"Pendant\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em><strong>&#8220;S&#8221; Pendant<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tira Mitchell started big but keeps getting smaller&#8211;her hand-engraved projects, that is. What began as a gamble to start a career led to being recognized as one of the country\u2019s most highly-regarded engravers of fine jewelry, heirloom knives, custom guitars, and fast motorcycles. Yacht cannons, musical instruments, elegant firearms, bells, cars and ostrich eggs\u2014she\u2019s worked [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":143,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/metalwerx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1896"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/metalwerx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/metalwerx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/metalwerx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/143"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/metalwerx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1896"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/metalwerx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1896\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1903,"href":"http:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/metalwerx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1896\/revisions\/1903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/metalwerx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/metalwerx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/metalwerx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}