Farewell Loyal Friend - Part 2

My friend, Jennifer, lost her dog, Minnie, shortly after we lost Chili. As we were talking one day, she asked me about engraving on rocks. Her idea was to engrave Minnie's name on a rock for her yard as a little reminder of a great dog.

I've never engraved on anything except glass and metal, so I wasn't sure how well rock engraving would work. But, I am always up for a creative challenge. As soon as I returned home, I got out my Dremmel engraver and found a practice rock in the yard. The result was quite nice, so I shared the process with Jennifer. Here's how she engraved a simple keepsake in memory of her special friend.

Materials

• Dremel 290-01 0.2 Amp 7,200 Stroke Per Minute Engraver includes Letter and Number Template
• clean rock
• pencil
• towel
• safety glasses

Directions

We live in Arizona, so there is no shortage of rocks. When you are picking a rock to engrave on you want to make sure in is fairly smooth. The engraving also shows up better if your rock is darker. If you are new to engraving, it's also a good idea to pick a flat rock so it isn't wobbling while you work.

Lay a towel down on your work surface. It helps catch dust and rock fragments and provides a little cushion.

With a pencil, write the words you would like to engrave. You could also include a small picture or design. If you mess up, just erase the words and write them again.

Put on your safety glasses. You want to protect your peepers from any flying fragments.

With the engraver on setting 5, begin tracing your design. You should hold the rock steady with one hand and hold the engraver with the other. It's not as tricky as it sounds. It works best if your engraver is at a slight angle. Also, you will need to make sure you are pressing the engraver firmly into the rock.

 Brush off the dust and rinse your rock.

Rock engraving is just one way you can create a unique keepsake that shows the impression your loyal friend left on your life.

Final Note - As we were getting ready to work on this project in my studio, we looked at the shadow box from my previous post. Jennifer made a keen observation that if you didn't have a paw print, you could easily use an engraved rock instead. It's one more way to remember your faithful companion. With love.