I noticed that the price of gravers are quite high and they seem to wear fast.  Any substitue tool for a graver that might not be so expensive.  Maybe something at Home Depot or someplace like that?

Aspin, how are you wearing gravers out? If used properly they last a longggggggggg time.There are substitutes but you would need to know how to hand sharpen & shape them. Please explain what you are trying to do and I'm certain I can help. I grind all my own tools, even the gravers you buy need to be sharpened before use, they won't cut the way they come from the manufactor.

mtlctr

I agree, I have some that were ancient before I got them and after 30 more years of use are still good to go. I'm not a hard core user like mtlctr but they do get a workout none the less. There are some very good videos on YouTube on the how to's of use, also there is this http://www.ganoksin.com/benchtube/  which is dedicated to jewelry making only and has some information on what you seek.

what I am trying to do is to take out little chunks of metal that are in little valleys of the piece that gets that way when the wax is cast.  Think of a thin line in a piece of metal with a little chunk in it.  I am thinking that maybe a tiny chisel will take them out.  Keep in mind that a sharpener for a graver is around $50. 

WOW! That must be some expensive Arkansas stone! Are you talking about a bubble that formed in a grove on the wax as it was being invested? If so, yes you can sometimes just knock them off with a small chisel that you can buy at Ace or True Temper Hardware or a nail, small screwdriver, punch, but you cannot refine the groove with one of the aforementioned items. You can dress the grooves,dips and valleys with a burr in a flex shaft machine. Burrs come in all shapes and sizes.

i didn't know that you can use an arkasaw stone to sharpen a graver.  The graver sharpeners at Rio are around $50.  But I think a chisel or nail will do. 

What happens is small pieces of metal get in grooves when the wax melts during casting.

Thanks for the advice on using nails etc.  I don't need to redo a groove to a different shape.

The type of nails that I used were the cut concrete nails. When I was doing a lot of bronze casting it was not uncommon to get bubbles caught in the many crevices in the surface of the finished casting. What I would do was grind an angle on the point of the nail and sharpen it on the Arkansas stone and then use it to cut/knock then off and generally clean up the surface of the casting. The nails come in various sizes and they are already hardened.

Aspin, Imho the graver sharpeners are not user friendly for a beginner. You must know the proper angles to succeed. The nails are ok, but you still have to sharpen them. Check your e-mail , I sent you something.

all the best,

Mtlctr