Has anyone ever tried there hand at engraving

[BP44]

So as the title said, Has anyone ever tried there hand at engraving any pistols or rifles? if so I think I could use a few pointers because it sounds like a great new hobby I have looked over a few engraving kits and i have a few chunks of practice steel lined up already. I just figured i need something else to do besides reload and work. Also if you have any work that you have done please post a picture.

Thanks for any advice in advance.

 

[rcmodel]

I tried it long enough to find out I can't do it!

I did a 03 Springfield floor-plate with a simple border line design, and it is passable. But that was enough for me to find out I was not going to get much better!

Stick figures are about the extent of my artistic ability, and coming up with suitable designs was very difficult for me.

rcmodel

 

[dclevinger]

Yup!! Tried it about six years ago. Been doing it full time for the last 2 1/2 or so.

What kits are you looking at? Give me a little more info and I'll be better able to help you.

I've posted quite a few pics here already. It would be easier to go to my website below.

David

 

[BP44]

Brownells sell this kit for $85 "Basic Engraver Set Selected By Author Of Art Of Engraving" and i think it comes with some instruction as well. I figure my first couple of projects will be floorplates but I really want to engrace my ruger sp101 and then one of my S&W 19's. I am really not that artistic but I appreciate art and i can trace/copy and steal the work and designs of others.


dclevinger, awsome website and beautiful work on the bouble rifle. Also how long of a project was the engraving on it?

 

[dclevinger]

Thank you very much for the compliment. Engraving can be one of the most frustrating things you'll ever do but it can also be the most rewarding.

Before you get any tools, get Meek's book and Ron Smith's "Advanced Drawing of Scrolls". You can get it through GRS or FEGA. I wouldn't bother with the Meek's started kit though. You can get by with an optivisor, chaser's hammer, 2 square gravers and a handle. You'll also need a vise, preferably an engraver's block. A bench vise will do fine for straight lines but that's about it.

A great resource for learning about engraving is the Engraver's Cafe and also the Engraving Forums. Some of the best engravers in the world hang out and participate on each forum.

If you have any specific questions post them here or email me. I'll do what I can to get you going in the right direction.

David

 

[JackOfAllTradesMasterAtNone]

Has anyone ever tried there hand at engraving

Well, it sounds like there is a bunch of good advice here from experienced and the inexperienced. Put me in the inexperienced group. With that though, I'll say that every engraver I've ever talked to about this, they said to start with hardwoods, then to move to metal.

I've been thinking about trying my hand at checkering, in wood and progressing to metal. Some of the multiple line tools look pretty straight forward.

Good luck with your engraving endeavors.

-Steve

 

[BP44]

Thanks Steve, starting with hardwoods seems like a great idea, I am kinda embarrased i didnt think of it. I was to busy with my eye on the prize and my little ruger very nervous

 

[dclevinger]

Carving wood and engraving steel are two completely different processes. I've never heard an engraver recommend using wood to practice on. All of the guys I know suggest practicing on the material that you plan to engraving. Steel for gun engravers, silver, gold and brass for jewelry engravers.

David

 

[JackOfAllTradesMasterAtNone]

No no... Not to practice engraving with wood, but to just learn if you have the knack for doing it at all. That's what I was told. I suppose that might mean a completely different set of tools involved though.

-Steve

 

[koginam]

I will have to agree, Davids work is some of the best I have seen, BP44 one thing you can learn from Davids work is not just the engraving but the subject he is able to beautifully portray the subject without going overboard in detail. I think my friend J.P.Campbell said it the best when he commented that Davids work was clean and alive without the clutter, you can see the power in the animals and the graceful curves in his scroll work.
I agree, if I want a lion on my floor plate that's what I want not a little lion and the rest filled up with scroll work.

 

[rcmodel]

What do you do about guns that are already harder then your engraving tools?

I know the Ruger Stainless frames would be very hard to cut.
But not even close to a case hardened Colt SAA or Double shotgun.

Do you anneal them first, then engrave, then re-heat treat them again or what?

rcmodel

 

[krs]

David,

You've got a nice light hand and a good eye. Some very nice work shown in your site.

There are engravers and there are people who engrave; the difference can be as stark as that between a work of art and a paint by numbers project.

Now tell me that you work cheap..

 

[dclevinger]

Steve, sorry I misunderstood what you were saying.
koginam, thank you very much. This is what I love to do and when people enjoy my work it makes it even more satisfying.

rcmodel, it depends. Glock & HK slides are too hard to be worth trying to cut, except for laser or machine engraving. Stainless Rugers can be done but they are a pain. I send color cased parts out to be annealed. I work with a local 'smith that does CCH, or I'll send it to Turnbull. The other option is to polish through the case hardening which is a not fun at all. I was working on a Westley Richards SXS, a while back, that was once color cased and had been polished by someone else. The forend iron was still too hard to cut. My carbide tools just slide right across it so I heated it with a torch to a nice blue color, re-polished and heated to blue again. After that it was fine. I guess I should mention that annealing should only be done by a professional. It is very easy to ruin a part or cause safety issues if not done correctly.

After all the engraving and inlay work is done, they go back to get color cased again. I've got a shotgun on it's way to Turnbull right now.

David

 

[dclevinger]

krs,
Thank you. I don't work cheap but I do have an excellent payment plan.

David

Also...One of the projects that I'm working on is a Walther PP with 80 to 90 percent coverage. After the engraving is done I'm going to rust blue it and nitre blue a few of the small parts. Will post pics when it's done.

 

[rcmodel]

David

Thank you for the explanation of the annealing & re-heat threating/case hardening process.

It is well worth noting for beginners that there is much more involved then just drawing a picture on hardened steel with a chisel!

rcmodel