Seal Engraving Technique by Hand

Engraving Tools (Photo)

The Tools and techniques used for hand engraving have changed very little in hundreds of years. At Thomas Flack Master Hand Engravers we strive to uphold the quality of craftsmanship of a bygone era when quality of workmanship was more important than speed of work.

The whole process of seal engraving a family Crest by hand begins with drawing the Crest onto the ring. This is done in reverse/negative in order to give a positive wax impression.

 

Seal Engraving onto Rings

A variety of gravers are used in order to achieve depth and the finest of detail when engraving a seal of a family Crest or Coat of Arms. Each graver is sharpened in such a way as to achieve a certain cut into the metal. A graver is sharpened with precision, almost like the facets on a diamond.

A Seal Ring starts with the initial drawing of the crest, it is then scribed lightly in order to move the hand freely over the design. Once the Crest is scribed onto the ring the gravers are used to achieve the various depths and cuts required. Childrens plastecine can be used to check how the seal is progressing through each stage. The whole process can take upto 3 to 4 days depending upon the intricacy of the Crest or Coat of Arms. Once the seal engraving is finished the ring is polished and a wax impression taken of the seal engraving to be presented to the customer with the seal ring.

Please click on any photograph on our website to enlarge

Sketch onto Ring Scribe onto Ring
First cuts after scribing Depth in the Scroll
Cut outline Initial Depth Cutting
Motto inside Scroll Plastecine impression
Further Depth Cutting Plastercine Impression
Engraving the Torse/Ribbon Plasticine Impression
Finished Seal Seal with Wax Impression
Engraving the bird Depth into bird
Further Depth Cutting Plastercine Impression
Further Depth Cutting Engraving of detail
Further Depth Cutting Plastercine Impression
Finished seal Plasticine Impression
Valid CSS! Valid XHTML 1.0! Level A conformance icon, W3C-WAI Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0

Web Author: The Images Group