Why are your gravers prepared differently? Essay #3 (final page) => 8 photos

 These are the basic shapes of gravers that any diamond setter and engraver will use. Remember that each of them must always be kept in pristine and high-polished condition.

 You can see just how important it is to have a well-maintained graver. The most important aspect of diamond setting is keeping your graver finely tuned for precision metal cutting.

 To reshape your graver is also a learned skill. It must be held at a 45-degree angle to achieve the best results. This is the only angle that is required to give you the best cutting angle to the metal.

 These are the polishing papers that are in numerical order starting with a #240 as a soft Emery grit paper. The paper on the far right is the very smooth #1,200 grit paper.

 In this photo, I'm displaying an Onglette graver being positioned and then sharpened on a well-lubricated 'Oilstone'.

 In this second photo, I'm reshaping a "Flat" graver as I need to have a 100% sharp edge to the base of the blade.

 Even the base of this blade will eventually get worn & dull from constant wear. Never assume that all gravers will stay sharp, as we all know that on a Flat and Onglette gravers, these are two areas that need to be always well-maintained. 

 I exert a constant downward pressure as I 'want & need' this pressure to gently reshape the cutting edges.

 You can now see how thin the face of the Flat graver must be.

 I always rub the bottom of the blade on 'paper polishing' paper. I start with a basically #2/0, #1, followed by the #600 grit and then finally the smoother #800 grit paper.

 In this photo, you can easily see what these two gravers look 'before & after' the intense shaping.