888 



ENGRAVING. 



ENGRAVING. 



890 



forwardjin the direction of the line required, being held by the handle 

 at an angle very slightly inclined to the plane of the copper. It is 

 requisite that the graver be well tempered, and great address is neces- 

 sary in whetting it for use. The angle at the meeting of the two lower 

 sides of the graver forms what is called its belly, and the breadth of 

 the end is called its face. The two sides which form the belly are to 

 be laid flat upon the oil-stone, and rubbed firmly until the belly 

 slightly rises, so that if it were laid flat upon the copper the light 

 could be seen underneath the point ; otherwise it would be impossible 

 to use it with freedom, as it would dig unequally deep into the copper. 

 The face is next to be whetted, which is done merely by laying the 

 face of the graver flat upon the stone, with the belly upward, and 

 rubbing it steadily upon a moderate slope until it acquires a very 

 sharp point, taking care that the stone be properly supplied with oil 

 all the while. The gravers sold in the shops are commonly too hard 

 for use, which is known by the frequent breaking of their points : 

 when this is the case they should be tempered by holding them on a 

 red-hot poker, at a distance of half an inch from the point, until they 

 acquire a faint straw colour ; they should then be put into oil to cool ; 

 or they may be tempered in a candle and cooled in the tallow. But it 

 is best not to be hasty in tempering ; for if the graver is only a little 

 too hard, whetting alone will frequently bring it into good condition. 

 An instrument called a scraper is required to scrape off the barb or 

 burr which is formed by the action of the graver and dry point. The 

 Imrnither is used to polish the plate and to erase any scratches which 

 it may accidentally receive, and also to make lighter any part of the 

 work which may have been made too dark. Much of the tone, air, and 

 beauty of finish in a line engraving is due to the dextrous use of the 

 burnisher. An oil-ttone is requisite for sharpening the instruments 

 upon. Etching-paints or needles are nearly similar in appearance to 

 sewing-needles, but fixed into handles four or five inches long ; some 

 are made of an oval form, to produce broader lines with : their use 

 will be explained when we are describing the process of etching. Dry 

 point is, in fact, nothing more than the common etching-needle brought 

 to a very fine point. It is used to cut or scratch the more delicate 

 lines with, such as skies, &c. ic. It does not, like the graver, cut the 

 copper clean out, but throws it up on each side of the line produced 

 by its progress through the metal : this is called the burr, which is 

 removed by a scraper. This burr was left on by Rembrandt, until it 

 wore away in the progress of printing, which it soon does; but by 

 his management it added greatly to the effect of the etching, and 

 impressions from his works with the burr on are much valued. A 

 million is a bag of leather filled with sand ; its use is to support the 

 plate so that it may be freely turned in any required direction ; but 

 it is not now much used by artists, being chiefly confined to engravers 

 of writing. A rubber is a roll of cloth tied up tight, one end being 

 kept in olive oil. It is useful to polish off more completely the burr 

 and also to show the appearance of the work as it proceeds. 



Etching is one of the most important processes in modern engraving, 

 almost all plates of every size and description being now commenced 

 by this process, and indeed brought by it to a very considerable effect, 

 and afterwards carried on to the necessary degree of finish and strength 

 with the graver and dry point. Etching is the superaddition of the 

 chemical process of corrosion to drawing, when performed on a plate of 

 copper over which a substance called etching-ground is laid, and through 

 which the design is traced with an etching-needle, so as to expose the 

 surface of the copper wherever it has passed. This etching-ground is 

 a substance composed of wax, asphaltum, gum mastic, resin, &e., incor- 

 porated by melting over a fire, and capable of resisting the action of 

 aquafortis. The laying of the ground, as it is called, is thus effected : 

 The plate must be heated over a charcoal fire, so that it may not be 

 smoked. For this purpose a hand-vice is fixed to the most convenient 

 part of the plate, by which it may be held in the hand. A piece of 

 the etching-ground, rolled into the form of a ball, and tied up in a 

 little silk bag, is then rubbed over the surface of the plate, the heat 

 of which causes the ground to melt and come through the silk on 

 to the copper. In order to effect a more equal distribution of the 

 wax, a small dabber made of cotton wool, tied up in a piece of taflety, 

 is quickly dabbed all over the face of the plate while yet warm, so as 

 to leave the wax or etching-ground of uniform thickness ; the ground 

 U then rendered black, by being held over the smoke of a wax candle, 

 or, if necessary, two or three wax candles tied together, care being 

 taken to move the plate about, so that it be equally smoked all over ; 

 and this operation of smoking must be commenced before the plate has 

 had time to cooL *> The whole operation of laying the ground requires 

 address and dexterity. When cold, the plate is now ready to receive 

 the design. To transfer the design to the copper, an outline is made 

 with a black-lead pencil on a piece of thinnish and even paper, and laid 

 with the face downwards on the etching-ground ; the whole is then 

 pawed through a rolling-press, the effect of which is to transfer an 

 impression of the outline on to the smoked ground. After this the 

 design is completed with the etching needles, which remove the ground 

 from* the copper wherever they pass, and expose it to the action of the 

 acid during the process of biting in, which is thus performed : A sub- 

 stance called banking wax, which when cold is quite hard, but which 

 on immersion in warm water becomes soft, and may be moulded into 

 any form, is first rendered soft by being so immersed in warm water, 

 and then banked up all round the margin of the plate, so as to form a 



;rough capable of preventing the escape of the acid, a gutter only being 

 iormed at one corner for the purpose of pouring it oft' when requisite. 

 This being done, the nitric acid, reduced with water to the proper 

 strength, is poured on, and its action on the copper becomes visible by 

 the rising of innumerable bubbles. The nitric acid must be allowed 

 to continue on the plate until the fainter parts are supposed to be 

 corroded sufficiently deep ; after which it is to be poured off, the plate 

 washed with water, and left to dry. The parts which are bittei)-in 

 enough, are now to be covered with what is called stopping-ground, 

 which is a mixture of lamp-black and Venice turpentine ; this is applied 

 with a camel-hair pencil, and allowed to dry. After this the acid is 

 again poured on, and this process of stoppiny-oitt and biting-in is re- 

 peated until even the darkest parts are sufficiently corroded. After 

 this the plate is again warmed, when the border of wax may be readily 

 taken off. It is then made warm enough to melt the ground, which is 

 removed by being wiped with a rag and a few drops of olive oil. The 

 work is now complete, unless it is intended to finish it still further 

 with the graver. We might offer rules for the strength of the acid, 

 and state the length of time it ought to remain on the plate, but we 

 are convinced of the inefficacy of such instructions. Nothing but 

 experience, joined to some chemical knowledge of the effect of the 

 acid, will avail the artist on this point, which requires the greatest 

 nicety and attention. 



Etchiny on soft ground is a mode of etching formerly much in use, 

 by which imitations of drawings in chalk and pencil were produced. 

 It is now, to a great extent superseded by lithography, which is more 

 successful in attaining the same objects. Soft ground etching is quite 

 a distinct process from 



Engraving in stipple, as practised by Bartolozzi, Ryland, and others, 

 in imitation of chalk drawings of the human figure. Stipple is per- 

 formed with the graver, which is so managed as to produce the tints by 

 small dots, rather than by lines, as in the ordinary method. It is very 

 soft in its effect, but ou the whole much inferior to the more legitimate 

 mode of engraving. 



Engraving on steel and etching on steel are performed in the same 

 manner as on copper ; steel having of late years been often substituted 

 (for book-plates almost invariably) on account of its yielding a greater 

 number of perfect impressions, owing to its superior hardness. The 

 engraving is made on a plate of soft steel, which is subsequently 

 hardened. 



A quatinta Engraving, and Engraving in Mezzotinto, are described under 

 their respective titles. [AQUATINT A ; MEZZOTINTO.] 



Engraving on Stone, or more properly Drawing on Stone, is de- 

 scribed, with the cognate process of Engraving on Zinc, under LITHO- 

 GRAPHY. 



Etching on glass is performed by laying on the glass a ground of bees' 

 wax, and drawing the design thereon with the needle, as in etching 

 upon copper. Sulphuric acid is then poured on, and fluor spar, or 

 fluoric acid, sprinkled on it. After four or . five hours it is taken oft', 

 and the work cleaned with oil of turpentine. 



Gem Engraving. [CAMEO ; INTAGLIO.] 



Medal Engraving. [CoiN ; MEDAL ; DIE-SINKING.] 



Machine Engraving. All the kinds of engraving hitherto noticed have 

 been manual operations ; the hand of the artist has guided his tools, 

 and the result has depended on the manipulative dexterity no less 

 than on the artistic taste of the engraver. Within the last few years, 

 however, several methods have been introduced of engraving by the 

 assistance of machinery, thus superseding the manual operations of 

 the engraver. The earliest and simplest machine for engraving, the 

 Ruling-Machine, of Mr. Lowry, has already been mentioned. Its object, 

 however, was to assist, not to supersede, the engraver's handiwork ; its ap- 

 plication being confined to skies, plain back-grounds, and other portions 

 where, if executed by the engraver, the operation was purely mechanical. 

 The saving of labour effected by the ruling-machine is very great, and 

 it has consequently come into very general use. But what is known as 

 Machine Engraving is executed wholly by machinery. The machine, 

 however, wonderful as are its operations, is not capable of artistic work. It 

 can execute designs for a great many business purposes, but its chief 

 application hitherto has been to the engraving of bank-notes. [BANK- 

 NOTE MANUFACTURE.] Several machines have been invented for this 

 purpose, but it would be of little use to describe their complex me- 

 chanism, if even it were open to description ; but it is, in fact, as much 

 as possible kept secret. The principle of all these engraving machines 

 is that of the pantograph [PANTOGRAPH], but the application is com- 

 plicated by being united with that of the Rose or Guilloche Machine, 

 a familiar employment of which is seen in the beautifully carved 

 {" engine-turned ") lines engraved on watch-cases. Messrs. Perkins and 

 Heath were, we believe, the first to introduce this machine practically, 

 and many of their bank-notes and cheques were admirable specimens of 

 workmanship. 



The latest and most perfect machine for engraving is that of 

 Mr. F. G. Wagner, of Berlin, which he calls the " Universal Rose- 

 Engine or Guilloche Machine." This machine has besides the Guillocho 

 apparatus, a centric apparatus connected with two excentric, an oval, 

 an anglej and two radiating apparatuses ; an apparatus connecting 

 the guilloche and centric apparatus, au apparatus to produce spiral- 

 wave lines in every different shape, and a volute-line apparatus ; 

 and these all admit of being used separately, or in combination, in so 



