Learn traditional hand-engraved lettering in Glasgow with award-winning engraver Dario Batzella.

Tell me about it

Discover the beautiful craft of hand-engraved lettering in this immersive two-day workshop at Vanilla Ink CIC, Glasgow. This beginner-friendly engraving class teaches you how to create clean, elegant letterforms in metal, from the first foundational cuts to designing your own personalised engraved piece.

Hand engraving is one of the oldest techniques in jewellery and metalwork, and this course gives you the rare opportunity to learn lettering from an award-winning professional engraver. Across the weekend, you’ll practise essential strokes, explore the structure of letterforms, and gain the skills and confidence to engrave monograms, initials or small inscriptions by hand.

Can I do this class?

Yes, this workshop is designed for beginners to lettering engraving, but with an important note:

Previous engraving experience helps!

You can come straight into this Letter Engraving workshop if:

• you have previous hand-engraving experience, or

• you’re already very confident with scorpers, line control or precision metalwork

If not, we strongly recommend completing our Intro to Engraving class first. Starting with the introductory course helps ensure you get the best results from your lettering work, especially if you want clean, consistent cuts and well-formed letter shapes.

We’re always happy to help you decide which level is right for you. Just ask!

What happens?

Day 1 – Foundations & practice

Your first day introduces the essential skills behind clean, well-structured engraved letterforms:

• Demonstration: tool preparation and sharpening

• Introduction to gravers used for letter engraving

  (Your lettering gravers will be pre-prepared for you ahead of class.)

• Preparing your copper plate

• Learning the key engraving cuts used to build letter shapes

• Introduction to letterform structure - proportions, spacing, layout

• Guided practice: lines, curves and simple letter strokes

By the end of day one, you’ll understand how engraved letters are built and how to control your cuts.

Day 2 – Design & engrave your own lettering

On the second day, you’ll bring everything together to create your own finished piece:

• Design your own lettering layout (monogram, initials, or short inscription)

• Transfer your design onto your metal plate

• Work step-by-step through engraving your final piece with Dario’s guidance

• Experiment with different strokes & effects before committing

• Learn how to polish, finish and care for engraved surfaces

You’ll leave with a personalised engraved copper plate and the foundation to keep building your lettering skills at home.

Do I need to bring anything?

All you really need to bring is a sketchbook or notebook for jotting things down and sketching out lettering ideas. If you usually use glasses or an optivisor for close work, definitely bring those along too, as engraving is tiny, precise work and good visibility makes all the difference. For safety, please come with long hair tied back, avoid open-toed shoes, and keep loose clothing to a minimum.

We’ll provide all the materials you’ll need, including your copper plate, plus a full bench set-up with essential tools. You’re welcome to bring any of your own tools if you prefer working with familiar kit.

If you haven’t completed our Intro to Engraving class before, you’ll also need to purchase the Beginners Graver Kit in addition to the Lettering Graver Kit that comes with this workshop. This ensures you have everything required to get the most out of the weekend.

Who is teaching me?

Dario Batzella is an award-winning engraver trained at the prestigious Scuola dell'Arte della Medaglia in Rome. Now based in Edinburgh, his accolades include a Silver Award at the Goldsmiths’ Awards (Senior Engravers category) and two Bronze Awards for Small Mechanism Design and Craft.

He designed the Cuttitta Cup, now played for in every Scotland vs Italy Six Nations rugby match, and brings deep technical knowledge combined with a calm, supportive teaching style perfect for beginners.

The details

🔨 Full weekend course
🕑 10am – 6pm daily [includes a 1-hour lunch break, 1pm – 2pm]
📅 Sat 30th & Sun 31st May

Why book with Vanilla Ink CIC?

Vanilla Ink CIC is a Community Interest Company. Every class you buy helps us deliver creative opportunities to people who would not usually have access to them. Thank you for being part of that mission. 💛

All prices are inclusive of VAT
Students must be 16+ years
Good eyesight and hand dexterity is essential
Please read our full Ts & Cs and Cancellation Policies before booking

Vanilla Ink CIC
60 Brook Street
Glasgow
G40 2AB