Colt grip safety by Lynton McKenzie

When I worked for New Orleans Arms Co. back in the 80's, a colleague gave me a bronze casting of a Colt grip safety which Lynton McKenzie had engraved. The quality of the casting isn't that great, but it still shows an example of Lynton's early pre-microscope work. I'm not sure if a photo of this part of the gun ever made it into the books. Keep in mind that the satyr is a raised gold inlay, and enjoy a small piece of engraving history. / ~Sam

I always admired Lynton’s work. I purchased his tapes years ago with plans to start hand engraving. I guess you could say he was my first step into hand engraving. At that time I just watched and didn't pursue it.
You worked with him. What was he like? It's nice to look and study others work but it seems to make it more fascinating knowing a little about the person. To me looking at his work and his videos, it seems like he was a perfectionist +. He also seemed that he would be the type of teacher that would take you to the wood shed. I'm probably not even close.
Would love to see more of his work if you have something to post.
Mike

Lynton was definitely a perfectionist when it came to engraving. His work was exceptionally clean and well executed. Once he started using a microscope, his work became cleaner and sharper than ever.

He was odd sort of fellow...but so am I. He had a whacky sense of humor and loved practical jokes. At one time he was pretty secretive about his work. I'm not sure why he agreed to teach me, but he did. After my short study with him (2 weeks), I mentioned in a FEGA newsletter that Lynton used a small chisel made of drill rod and soldered to a penny, which was used to trim inlaid gold. Lynton phoned me and was pretty upset that I shared this information, and told me what he taught me was for me and not FEGA or anyone else. I felt horrible and apologized like crazy. This would have been around 1982, and at that time keeping engraving secrets was alive and well. At one time Lynton said if he ever wrote a how-to book or video that his English gun work would dry up because they would blackball him. Eventually Lynton made instructional videos and shared information. He never adapted to pneumatic handpieces. / ~Sam

That's pretty wild Sam, would he have been blackballed? What made him open up did he get sick and feel he needed some kind of closer or something.
Sorry for asking so many questions but I was just fascinated with his work for quit a while. I still enjoy studying it.
Thanks
Mike

The whole secrecy thing is quite interesting and certainly doesn’t apply only to engraving. I think it was fairly well established in all the trades and arts at one stage.

When I started my signwriting apprenticeship (26 plus years ago) I was sworn to secrecy by my boss. One day he caught me showing how to do brush strokes to form letters to someone "outside" the workshop. He got pretty upset with me. When I went to do my trade examinations with other apprentices around the country I was again told not to reveal too much to the other apprentices. As it turned out it we were all pretty ignorant anyway!!! (yes, we did talk among ourselves)

I think it all has it's origins in the dark ages and before when "trades" and "arts" meant shear survival and could literally keep you out of the gutter. Particularly if you had a wealthy patron. That little bit of extra technique or bit of knowledge could keep you one pace ahead of the rest of the pack all trying to curry favour with the aristocracy. And of course it was seen as vulgar to even talk of money.

Often the prestige of working for a famous/rich patron or supplier to the aristocracy was considered reward enough (read... paid very little) this in turn gave you a position in society.

In a way, when you look back on the times and keep an historical perspective, it's no wonder some of the arts and trades were so secretive. Often their livelihoods and survival of their families depended on it.

We see things quite differently now, but don't forget, it wasn't that long ago that reading and writing were the sole domain of the upper class and books were for the wealthy only.

Cheers
Andrew Biggs

gentlemen,
Yeah, realizing i needed it (engraving) to embellish flint longrifles, just needing to cut a few "straight" lines & simple borders I started to look for knowledge on the subject.It was NOT to be had. This was about 1984. I couldnt even get anyone to show me how to sharpen let alone the basics on hmr & chsl.
It was frustrating. They all told me, go read a book, thats how I learned.
I left it alone for quite a while then got Meek's book and took an on-line course a MCC. that got the ball rolling a solved many mysteries. This truly is the "golden age" of engraving, at least for me.
thanks to all who share so much,
Kent

Mike: According to Lynton, the British gun trade wouldn't tolerate an engraver who did work for them to share secrets. Maybe Marcus can elaborate this. If Lynton was doing any work for the British gun trade in the 80's I never saw it, but he did eventually open up, share more technique, and ultimately did a video on engraving. What triggered this I don't know. Lynton was plagued by Crone's disease for many years, and suffered from stomach problems before the Crone's was diagnosed. Ultimately cancer took his life.

Before he died he paid an unexpected visit to my home in Louisiana. He drove up with some friends, dragged in about a dozen antique rifles and a turnable engraving vise he'd been designing. He chattered about the guns, showing me engravings and explaining things, asked if I wanted him to build me a vise like his, then he packed up and left as suddenly as he came. Some say he made the rounds to see freinds one last time. I never saw him again after that. / ~Sam

Andrew I can remember when I was learning to be a Jeweler around 1979. I worked with a diamond setter and he was in one room I in another. I had to ask when to be shown, and only then would I be shown how to set. Any other time I would be soldering or polishing. One day I wrap a hand made filligree diamond bracelet around the buff, what a mess it was. But I worked and worked on it an put it back together, you couldn't even tell I wrapped it. That bought me some well earned respect. It sure was different then.

Sam that's a nice little segment of Lynton's historic ride through life. Thanks for sharring that with us.

Mike

Typical Aussie...

When I started to learn it was hell on wheels to get anyone to share the experence, and since I was in rural Australia it was even harder...this form would not have existed then....as I have said before I wrote to Sam and would you believe it he wrote back !!!:yes...wonders of all times...

Jeff Wilkins was a bit of an outlaw in engraving and that may be why he took me on...others said that I had to go to Italy or England to learn...a bit rough for a mid 40's man with two kids to feed...

Lynton was my hero...got his video's and Jeff and I watched them for hours...or until the wine was gone...

Hammer and chisel is all I know, thanks to Jeff...he had a Gravemaster but kept it under the desk gathering dust...

Lots of water under the bridge, and now we share...always believed that there should not be secrets about arts like this....

Andrew

As I've said before, I thank the Internet for the explosion in knowledge sharing in things like this.

Not just because it makes it easier for a former sign painter in New Zealand to let a programmer in Missouri follow along as he works on a design with a Goldsmith in Europe but because lets that nice fellow in New Zealand have clients in Texas.

As you said, when everyone you could share with could use that bit of knowledge to (literally) take the bread from your family's mouths there were good reasons not to share.

Now, when you're more likely to be competing with someone hundreds of miles away for the business of someone in yet another distant location everyone benefits from the sharing - including the customers who get to see what else they could be getting.

I may or may not ever get to the level of being 'competition' for you, or Sam or the others but even if I do the odds of me ever being in actual competition for a particular job are very slender. I'd be much more likely to the person they 'settle' for when you're not able to get to their job.

We live in wonderous times. Sure, there are bumps and rattles, ominous dark potents, but you can stop at a gas station in the middle of nowhere Missouri and buy a bottle of water pumped from the edge of the jungles of Fiji for a dollar and know that everyone in the chain that got it to you made money on the deal.

Hello Sam, do you think this squeeze safety was part of the gun Lynton engraved for President Marcos? And that must have been Emmit that cast that part.

Thanks for sharing.

Ed

Funny you should mention the scraper Sam..
I still use these tools I made way back then. Had to replace the "heads" a few times but that only costs a penny... They work great!
Glad you got chewed out for that!!!
Rex

When I was a kid I was very interested in woodworking. So at 16 I applied to enter an apprenticeship program for cabinet making. I was turned down because I had no immediate family who belonged to that guild.
What Steve said about the internet is true we all have access to so much more. But it has its limits. I participated in a jewelry/metalworking forum for a long time. Many people had the idea that they could become jeweler/metalsmiths via the internet. One woman told me I was mean because I told her to take a class. We can get a lot of info, but there's nothing like in person teaching.
I have Lynton's videos. I didn't see much in them when I bought them; but as I learned a bit I see much more now in his videos.
It's a brave new world.
Kevin P.

Thanks for the picture and insight into the persona of Lynton McKenzie. He is one of my favorite engravers. His work just looks so clean and well laid out.

I have one of his videos that i've viewed many times.

The first year I was set up in the primitive campground at the NMLRA Fall Shoot in Friendship, Indiana, I had an English percussion double on my trade blanket. this guy stopped and asked if he could look at it, picked it up, sat down and started telling me all about it. I didn't know who Lynton McKenzie was at the time but found out later. He was a regular at Friendship for many years and used to sleep in the loft of Gunmakers Hall.
In 1989 I took his engraving class through NMLRA. We worked all day and listened to his stories half the night. He was a very interesting fellow.

Communication

KSnyder said:

gentlemen,
Yeah, realizing i needed it (engraving) to embellish flint longrifles, just needing to cut a few "straight" lines & simple borders I started to look for knowledge on the subject.It was NOT to be had. This was about 1984. I couldnt even get anyone to show me how to sharpen let alone the basics on hmr & chsl.
It was frustrating. They all told me, go read a book, thats how I learned.
I left it alone for quite a while then got Meek's book and took an on-line course a MCC. that got the ball rolling a solved many mysteries. This truly is the "golden age" of engraving, at least for me.
thanks to all who share so much,
Kent

Click to expand...

Hi Kent,
Sorry you had trouble in getting engraving instruction in 1984.
As Steve pointed out the information age had not arrived yet.
But in the late 70's the NRA had started the summer 2 weeks engraving classes.
These continue at this time. Neil Hartliep and several others of us carried them on from 1980.
Many of the greats of engraving donated their time to demonstrate their artistry in one week Masters Classes.
These were advertised mostly in the NRA magazine "The Rifleman" and also by most of the teachers at gun shows and the annual NRA Exhibition.
But as Steve pointed out, without the information age the opportunity passed you bye.
Sorry you had to struggle on your own. It was available but the information missed you.
The NRA classes are still held at Junior Colleges in a few parts of the country and are usually 2-weeks around summer vacation time. Most are low cost.

Hi Sam,
I know what you mean about Lynton being secretive for a long while.
I’ve often wondered if once he saw the cat out of the bag with the NRA classes he decided to open up a little more.
As you say, he was a very complex guy so it’s hard to know.

I started in the early 70'S when the only book to be found was Meek. The only other resource we had was face to face or the telephone. Even today as I reread Meek's sharpening directions I find them incomprehensible. I'm missing a gene or something because even knowing how to sharpen I find his pages on sharpening to be impossible to follow. I was fortunate to make the aquaintance of Heinar Tamme in the eighties and learned a great deal from him. I have been a goldsmith and engraver for nearly 40 years now and I find there are two kinds of people in the trades, those who will willingly share information and those who think they know a secret. I have found that the ones most willing to share and teach are the most successful. Sam is a great example of this as is Lee Griffiths. There are many others as well and I think this forum has done more for the engraving trade than all the wealthy patrons in the world.........Owen
www.walkergoldsmiths.com

Before I met Lynton, I had the impression he was a stuff shirt. He was very conservative and had a dry sense of humor. One day at one of the shows, we sat down to talk, and I found he had a gracious sense of humor when he got to know you better. We joked, had a few drinks, and laughed together there after. I admired him greatly.

The days when no one would share I'm sure came about during the depression years. Just having a job was a definate gain. To let someone in on your way of making a kiving would have been "creating your own competition" as they said back then.

Of course that wasn't going to stop me. I am like a pit bull however, and when I get ahold, I don't let go. The only thing that will ever change my mind is the truth. My opinions, I don't always consider to be valid, so I depend on truths of all times, not just my own experience. I learned how to sharpen a tool from looking at some of the tools around the jewelry shop (diamond setting tools mostly), but there were also some engraving tools lying around, and by looking at them tried to imulate what I saw. I even bought some old engraving tools to get clues from. Even at that, It took me years to be able to understand what I was looking at. There were no definate angles you could discern. There weren't any distinguishable facets as such.

The tools had a gradually curved rounded point, but practically speaking would come out to the very thing we use today with the exception of lift. I made all of my tools from carbon blanks, used drills, Old jeweler's files, worn out beading punches, and broken tapps or allen wrenches. Whatever I could find that I could temper myself. I made all of my own holding jigs and devices, or whatever I could think of to make holding things easier. I invented a sharpening system that worked pretty good, but it was too slow. I had already learned how to do it by hand, and there is nothing faster, so I still do it that way, except for bulk metal removal. In my time speed was essential if you were to make even a meager living at it.

Anyway, there may come a day when the engraving trade again becomes saturated and it will close up again I think. Maybe not. Not as long as I am alive however. I remember how hard it was to get going on my own.

Thanks for the memories Sam.

Ron S