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Adam Savage’s Tested
A Guide to Traditional Hand Engraver Tools!
⏱ 26 min video · 3 min read10 Jun 2026Worth watching
TL;DR
Adam Savage interviews Marlin Hazel, the last traditional hand engraver in San Francisco, who explains the tools, techniques, and history of hand-push engraving without any electric or pneumatic assist. The video covers everything from graver geometry to the 500-year-old origins of the craft, with a look at Marlin's actual work samples.
Key points
1
Marlin Hazel is the only traditional hand engraver (no electric or pneumatic tools) in San Francisco, a position inherited after a 2.5-year apprenticeship with his mentor Harout at Revere Academy starting in 2013.
2
The core tool set -- high-speed steel gravers on wood handles -- has not meaningfully changed in 500 years; the Renaissance-era armor at the Met was made with essentially the same tools.
3
There are multiple graver shapes (onglette, flat, square) serving different purposes, similar to different paintbrush shapes -- single-point for fine work, two-point for wide cuts.
4
The engraving block is a ~15 lb rotating steel ball with a vice and leather base; the block rotates to bring metal into the tool rather than the engraver moving the tool around the piece.
5
Notable commissions include engraving the indexable brass clutch for the Wintergatan Marble Machine, which was also the first job Marlin filmed and posted online.
Key takeaways
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The three-step engraving process is: draw the design on metal with pen, scribe over the ink lines with a scribe tool, wipe ink away, then engrave -- this staged approach lets you catch errors before cuts are permanent.
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Engraving cuts are measured in thousandths of an inch -- depth creates width of line, not depth of gouge -- so expect shallow, precise shaving rather than deep carving, even on ornate pieces.
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Eye fatigue from close magnification work can be managed by periodically looking out a window at the farthest visible point, actively stretching the focus muscles -- a technique passed on by an instructor at Revere Academy.
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Milgrain (the decorative bead border on jewellery edges) is created with a small rolling wheel tool made in France, available in numbered sizes, that impresses tiny concave dimples into the metal edge as it rolls.
Notable quotes
“Engraving is I think one of the most technical things while also being one of the least technological things we could do.”
“I describe engraving kind of like ice skating on tiptoe -- it is really easy to slip, but it is a balancing act.”
“Having it done by hand and saying that it is hand engraved means that it has to look like it is done by hands -- it has got some wabi-sabi.”
Worth watching?
✅
Worth watching the full video?
Watch if you want to see the actual tools up close and hear Marlin handle them -- the oversized aluminum demonstration gravers and the tiny milgrain wheels are genuinely striking visually, and the full summary captures all the factual content.
Saved you some time? The creator still deserves a like.
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