Pics of unusual engravings

Hi everyone!

Well, I think this forum is a good place to start showing pics of those 'rare' or not so common commissions one can get from time to time.
Many things can fit in this classification, from cheap to expensive, from fine to simple, done by beginners or by masters... what matters is that they are quite unusual jobs.

So, let's start with this one from a rooster I got last week. Of course, 'Richard' is the customers name (not the rooster's!) and the position of the plaque is also unusual: horizontal. Otherwise the rooster didn't fit in!
I found this work pleasant and curious.
(Size: 2x3 cms. Metal: 18k gold. Technique: bulino. Not inked (yet))

The second one, a frog called dendrobates, the most poisonous in the world.
Who wants a frog like that?... My brother!
(Size: 3x2 cms. Metal: 18k gold. Technique: bulino. Inked)

And the unusual about the third one is the size. That engraving of the Sacred Heart had to be cheap and had to fit in a medal whith a diameter of 4 cms!!!! With all my respects for devote people, that's a little too big... Don't you think so?

Yes guys, in Spain one can get different things to engrave. But that's fun!

Please, share your "unusual" jobs, too!!

lovely

these are lovely, my favorite is the first.thanks for post

Jordi: Nice trio of engravings. My favorite is the first one as well. Excellent work.

I recently sent a letter to the owners of my old boss' home in New Orleans to see if they'll allow me to photograph their doorbell and his & hers toilet paper holders which I engraved during my tenure with New Orleans Arms Co. I guess those would be the most unusual items I've engraved, but never got a photo of them 20 years ago. I'll look around and see if there's anything else I might have. / ~Sam

Nice work Jordi... just keeps getting better.

Unusual stuff, huh? Sam, I wish I too had bothered to take photos back then. (Then again there were some things I'd rather forget, or buy back and melt down!)

How 'bout a plate that went on the front of an elephant headpiece for a circus that came through town? If you've never been to a circus, it's the leather "halter" that the elephant wears on his/her head. The pretty female acrobats used to hang from it and do handstands and such. I also made and engraved the ferrule that holds the ostrich plumes on top of the head...

And then there was the leatherwork... Well, I might as well tell the whole story now.

This was back in the days before we had UPS, FEDEX, and other shipping services. The circus arrived in town without the trunk of props they needed for the elephant act. They came to my saddleshop and asked if I could make an elephant headpiece. By the weekend. This was Wednesday. They couldn't get the trunk of props shipped and delivered to them by the weekend. (Remember, I said this was in the "preFEDEX" era.)

Being young and hungry, I said "Why not'? Can't be much harder than making a halter for a horse, right? Just a little bigger... I'm gonna need a ladder...

We went over to the Pleasanton fairgounds so that I could get the exact measurements. I was unaware that elephants are trained to hand signals...

As we walked into the tent, I was looking around for a ladder, but the trainer moved his hand, and before I had ANY idea of what was happening - the elephant had snatched me up and placed me right square on top of his head!

The trainer and roustabouts were all busting up with laughter, and I must've looked pretty shaken up, up there on top of the elephant. After the trainer managed to control his mirth, he tossed me my tape measure (which had gotten dropped during my elevator ride) and asked me if I could get the measurements now?

I mumbled something about having come pretty close to having to change my pants - (I was still too young to mention a possible heart attack) and got on with the job.

Can't even remember the name of the circus anymore... Those were the days, or were they?

Brian Marshall

Brian: Not only are you the only engraver I know who's made and engraved an elephant headpeace, but also the only one I know who's been snatched up BY an elephant and placed on its head.

Not sure if anyone can top that story. Thanks for sharing it. It was quite entertaining. / ~Sam

Weeeeell, then there was the time I set a diamond in a Hells' Angels' gold front tooth whilst he was lying on my bench. (A bunch of his drunk buddies were supervising my work...)

That got pretty exciting too - but I gotta quit highjackin' Jordi's thread! Save it for another time...

Brian

Thanks Jacques.
Wow, that's really an unusual job, and a cool story behind it, Brian! Thanks for sharing. Nice hearing from you.
Sam, it would be amazing if you can get photos of that toilet paper holder, too!
Unbelievable...

About my third photo... the Sacred Heart medal: except for the customer, who was proud of it, nobody likes it!! My wife says I shouldn't post it here. But, why not? It's not my fault! The customer only agreed to pay for a fifth part of the price I suggested! (well... and I agreed to do the job also... ) Anyway, I could have done a better job on that, but the time I could put into it determined the poor quality of the engraving (no shading at all, bad proportions,...).
Well, it fits in this thread, that's what matters.

Here is my submission to the odd but tried category.... This is a 14 inch pipe wrench that I did with a plumber's company name on it. It was given to him on his 40th birthday by his friends. The photo is not the best quality because it had to go out the door quickly to make it in time for the big event. It has a layer of copper on it so that it wouldn't have to be buffed too much to finish the chrome job that occured the next day.

It was strange.... but I have to admit not nearly as strange as the elephant submission. Great topic starter!

Cool

Girl, you get some cool stuff. I can't even come close to topping that .

Wow, a pipe wrench! That's way cool. After this thread the engraving I did on the De Leorean stick shift knob seems rather ho-hum. I'm still hoping to get a chance to photograph the his & hers toilet paper holders, though. / ~Sam

Tira, thanks, that's the final proof that ALMOST EVERYTHING CAN AND SHOULD BE ENGRAVED!!

So people, keep on sending mooore pics, and LET'S SHOW THE ENTIRE WORLD WHAT ENGRAVERS CAN DO !!!!!!

(This is so exciting!)

Great thread. I've done some weird things, mostly car stuff, blower scoops, mag wheels, but probably the most unusual was some rather "risque" hand cuffs for a fun looking couple. They were talking about buying a chastity belt made out of silver for her (well, in this case it was more of non-chasity belt , since the openings were, well, lets say more accessible ;^) but they never showed back up with that. But the tool thing made think of another story. Back when I was first learning to engrave, and I decided to forgo law school to become an engraver, My dad told me I could continue to live at home if I was consistently putting metal chips on the floor practicing through the week and help him with his business on the weekends, a canoe rental. So finding objects to engrave besides was a chore, until I thought of hte tool box. So there are lots of wrenches, sockets, hammers, etc around his place still today with rusty scrolls protruding through the chrome. Its always the first thing I recommend to students seeking practice material. Tools like that always has a unusual shaped areas to design your scrolls on, and varying degrees of hardness just like the real world of gun and knives.

Dang! I've lived a sheltered life.

Ray

I thought I stuck my graver in everything, but I'm a virgin compared to you guys, and gals
Jordy that is very nice bulino work. I especially like the rooster and frog.
Ray, Missouri, what did you expect
Mike

One of the first things I attacked with a hammer and chisel was a small craftsman hammer. Later I bought a full size Husky hammer to engrave as a gift. Well this one wasn't as soft on the side so I stopped at the Initial and an outline. The outline on the tang had to be done with a small punch since it's quite hard there. I mounted it on a framed piece of pegboard.

In 1984 I shaped the end of a piece of 1/2" drill rod into an oval and engraved E. LENAZ , N.O. in reverse. Emmett Lenaz built a knife that was part of a presentation set of guns we'd done while at New Orleans Arms Co, and the die was used to strike a 24k gold oval which was inlaid into the ricasso. The photo is of test strikes into lead sheet. I'm not sure how 'unusual' this is, but it's all I have to contribute at the moment! All work done with hammer & chisel. / ~Sam

I haven’t engraved anything unusual but I’ve certainly signwritten an unusual canvas in my day job. A few years ago I got a phone call on a Sunday afternoon from a guy that was desperate to get some signwriting done on his head. Naturally I thought this guy was winding me up, but no, sure enough, he came around and he was sporting a haircut the same as Sam Alfano’s. So he sat down and I proceeded to signwrite his head with a local radio stations logo on it. It turned out that this was a promotion that they were doing and this guy was a part of it. A couple of hours later he paid me in cash and left a very happy man. A week later I bumped into him when I was out and about and sure enough the signwriting was still on his head and as good as the day I did it, which amazed the hell out of me.

Cheers
Andrew Biggs

Unusual engraving

I don't know if this even qualifies as engraving, but in the early 1980's I was working as a welder at a nuclear power station and during some of our "down times" (waiting for inspectors and quality control people), I started polishing a set of Kleins (electrical sidecutters) and it looked like chrome when I finished. I had an electric engraver to use for numbering my welding and just started drawing scrolls and things on the pliers. Lo and behold, my supervisor caught me in the act and I was sure I was "down the road", but instead, he gave me a brand new pair he had with him and wanted me to do the same thing on them for him, only put his initials on them also. Well, that turned into a full time job as I ended up doing quite a few for the bosses (and others which I had to do sneakily), which eventually got me interested in "real" engraving, and I have been a student and scratcher ever since. My wife says I am too much of a perfectionist for my own good, but I enjoy the challenges and the occassional praise from friends and customers. Of course, they don't know any better, but it is encouraging. Any way, they were a very unusual canvas and I got a lot of practice with designing scrolls and balance.

Sam, Scott, Robert, Andrew and Big-Un, thanks for sharing. I see many of you have engraved on working tools!

Yes, this is really unusual. What I consider usual things to engrave are firearms, jewellery, watches, knives, cutlery & lighters. I'm sure we could gather more odd objects from many other people, although the ones we have already seen here seem certainly unbeatable!

Big-un,
this reminds that Ralph Bone got started engraving by scratching on oil drillers aluminum helmuts with a screwdriver, and soon everybody in the feild was wearing a Bone engraved helmut.