Perhaps you’ve heard of metal engraving, but you may not be as familiar with the metal pressing process. Metal engraving is the use of engraving tools to carve special patterns from metal. In fact, metal pressing technology can also be regarded as a kind of technical engraving technology, but metal pressing technology has its own characteristics. Simply put, metal pressing technology is to use a professional machine to press the metal on the mold made in advance. But there are still a lot of differences between metal engraving and metal pressing in terms of details. Today I will introduce you the characteristics of metal engraving and metal pressing, and what are the advantages of each of them.
1. Metal engraving
Features of metal engraving
Overall, the characteristics of metal engraving can be explained in a total of three areas.
First of all, the metal engraving out of the work has a relatively high ornamental value and artistic value. In fact, as far as the metal engraving works on the market are concerned, most of them are items of high value such as jewelry. If you have a certain understanding of metal engraving works, you will find that most of the metal engraving works on the market are sold at a relatively high price!
The second is that the production cost of metal engraving is still relatively high compared to metal pressing techniques. The types of metals used for metal engraving are precious metals such as gold, silver and platinum. And, although machine engraving is gradually being introduced to the market, there are still many customers who choose hand engraving to customize their metal engraving pieces. That’s why there are many jewelers who use “hand-engraving” as their special service to attract customers.
Finally, metal engraving is capable of producing extremely layered pieces. The templates of pressed metal are generally not too complex, for example, metal relief carving this carving technique is very difficult to appear in the metal pressing process. For metal engraving, as long as the engraver’s engraving techniques are in place, any complex pattern is possible.
Metal engraving process
Select Metal
Although the metal engraving techniques are all very different, but for different metals, they all have their own characteristics. So they will also have different engraving techniques. For example, gold, silver, as well as silver, the texture of the softer metal is more suitable for hand engraving. And those hard metals, such as stainless steel and other metals, hand-carved are more laborious. So they are more suitable for machine engraving or laser engraving this kind of engraving method.
Developing an engraving program
After choosing the type of metal you want to engrave, you need to start envisioning what you want the final product to look like. You can always change your engraving scheme or engraving details before you even start engraving on the metal.
Clean metal
Taking out the metal you have prepared in advance, the next thing we need to do is to clean the metal thoroughly and carefully. You can opt for diluted soapy water with a softer textured cleaning cloth to gently wipe the metal. Of course, it is best if you can purchase a specialized cleaner. However, whichever method you use, after cleaning you will need to wipe the metal again with a dry cleaning cloth.
Choosing the right engraving tool
Tools for metal engraving can be divided into two ways: purely manual engraving tools as well as engraving machines. For beginners, a pneumatic engraver is a good choice because it is not very complicated to operate, even if you have never been exposed to engraving before. Because it’s not very complicated to operate, even if you’ve never touched an engraving before, you can get started quickly.Katway is a popular brand of engraving machine on the market nowadays, so if you’ve got the idea of purchasing an engraving machine, you can go to find out more about it.
Let’s get started on the official carving
Before engraving, you can do preliminary engraving on the metal. By preliminary engraving, I mean that you use an engraving knife to first carve out a rough pattern on the metal, which serves as the basis for subsequent engravings. You can keep deepening on this pattern or keep adding details.
2. metal pressing
Characteristics of metal pressing
First of all metal pressing does not cost much time. As long as the template is ready, metal pressing can be done at any time. Metal pressing is a better option if you are producing large quantities.
The second is that the surface of the finished product of metal pressing and engraving is relatively smooth, but the pattern of metal pressing is limited to some relatively simple patterns, some of the higher coefficient of difficulty pattern style is difficult to realize.
The third characteristic is that metal pressing is very malleable. Any metal product can be realized if you can make the template of metal pressing directly.
The process of metal pressing
Most of the metal pressing process is actually done by machines. The broad process can be broken down into the following steps: selecting the right metal, dividing the metal block into the right size, pressing the metal into shape, and subsequent adjustment of the details. In fact, so it seems, the process of metal pressing does not require a lot of experience on the part of the operator. After all, the only work that needs to be taken care of is the cutting of the metal block. After all, the size of the mold is already fixed, and you need to cut the metal into the right size in order to facilitate the subsequent pressing operation of the machine.
Difference between metal engraving and metal pressing
The biggest difference between metal engraving and metal pressing is their uses. Metal engraving is often utilized in the production of artwork or decorative items. The most common is the production of jewelry, like rings, pendants and other accessories are more common.
Metal pressing is mainly used to make parts for automobiles, or some kitchenware. Metal pressing is mainly used to make metal products with less details.
