Engravers decorate glass or metal objects. They use hand tools or machines to mark the surface. Some of the machines used by engravers may be computer-controlled.
Glass engravers use a variety of tools and techniques in their work, such as:
- A copper wheel lathe, which has a machine-driven wheel for shaping and a mixture of oil and grit for cutting
- A hand-held pendant motor, with tungsten or diamond rotary burrs
- Acid etching, using hydrofluoric acid on the areas to be decorated
- Sand or grit blasting, using grit to erode areas of unmasked glass.
Metal engravers may use:
- Traditional hand-held engraving tools
- Pantograph and computer-controlled machines
- A hand-held pendant motor, using tungsten or diamond rotary burrs
- Photo-etching
- Bead-blasting.
