Etchers and Engravers

Key Responsibilities

• Print proofs or examine designs to verify accuracy of engraving, and rework engraving as required.
• Prepare workpieces for etching or engraving by cutting, sanding, cleaning, polishing, or treating them with wax, acid resist, lime, etching powder, or light-sensitive enamel.
• Measure and compute dimensions of lettering, designs, or patterns to be engraved.
• Remove wax or tape from etched glassware by using a stylus or knife, or by immersing ware in hot water.
• Fill etched characters with opaque paste to improve readability.
• Examine engraving for quality of cut, burrs, rough spots, and irregular or incomplete engraving.
• Expose workpieces to acid to develop etch patterns such as designs, lettering, or figures.
• Start machines and lower cutting tools to beginning points on patterns.
• Prepare etching chemicals according to formulas, diluting acid with water to obtain solutions of specified concentration.
• Determine machine settings, and move bars or levers to reproduce designs on rollers or plates.
• Clean and polish engraved areas.
• Neutralize workpieces to remove acid, wax, or enamel, using water, solvents, brushes, or specialized machines.
• Remove completed workpieces and place them in trays.
• Brush or wipe acid over engraving to darken or highlight inscriptions.
• Use computer software to design patterns for engraving.
• Transfer image to workpiece, using contact printer, pantograph stylus, silkscreen printing device, or stamp pad.
• Position and clamp workpieces, plates, or rollers in holding fixtures.
• Inspect etched work for depth of etching, uniformity, and defects, using calibrated microscopes, gauges, fingers, or magnifying lenses.
• Sandblast exposed areas of glass to cut designs in surfaces, using spray guns.
• Set reduction scales to attain specified sizes of reproduction on workpieces, and set pantograph controls for required heights, depths, and widths of cuts.
• Examine sketches, diagrams, samples, blueprints, or photographs to decide how designs are to be etched, cut, or engraved onto workpieces.
• Engrave and print patterns, designs, etchings, trademarks, or lettering onto flat or curved surfaces of a wide variety of metal, glass, plastic, or paper items, using hand tools or hand-held power tools.
• Adjust depths and sizes of cuts by adjusting heights of worktables, or by adjusting machine-arm gauges.
• Guide stylus over template, causing cutting tool to duplicate design or letters on workpiece.
• Insert cutting tools or bits into machines and secure them with wrenches.
• Sketch, trace, or scribe layout lines and designs on workpieces, plates, dies, or rollers, using compasses, scribers, gravers, or pencils.