A mental reference

It's not always the case, but it's just a quick mental reference.

I might add the time spent scratching your head and mumbling "how am I going to hold this @#$% thing?"

Good point Sam!

is that a "brainberg" ? when all the crap confuses me, i just turn up the voltage on the 2 electrodes some doc shoved into my brain. when i do this, i can hear gate mouth brown plunking away.

Great thought Brian and the skull burg isn't to bad either, Much appreciated. Fred

Add: The time needed to educate the customer as to "why it’s gonna’ cost so much".

My thoughts Dan W.--
Your customer knows what it will cost up front.
Those that need educated are "shoppers". Shoppers are only looking for the best in price.
If you do a job for them, realize you lost a few bucks and think you can make it up with a price increase in the next round, they will leave you.

BrianPowley said:

My thoughts Dan W.--
Your customer knows what it will cost up front.
Those that need educated are "shoppers". Shoppers are only looking for the best in price.
If you do a job for them, realize you lost a few bucks and think you can make it up with a price increase in the next round, they will leave you.

Click to expand...

It just reminded me of the old saying "It's easier to explain price once than to apologize for quality forever".
Dan

Brian,

You've made an excellent graphic representation of the process. I only wish all aspiring gun engravers could see it and understand that it is not a joke.

Roger

Thanks Roger. It's so hard to be critical and not sound like you're beating someone up when they ask for critique of their work.
YES......Everyone has spent a small fortune on equipment and wants to get to the cutting on something other than "Stupid Steel". It certainly is encouraging
to see the enthusiasm to our craft. I never want to discourage that.
The part I find somewhat disheartening is to see so many promising engravers trying to run before they can walk. They are taking praise, encouragement and mild critiquing as a sign of marketability. Instead, they should be taking stock of the advice, regroup and make the same project better.
I understand we all gotta start somewhere and try cutting a real knife or gun or whatever. I have the first gun I ever engraved and it is pretty bad.
After I was done, it was a lesson learned. It didn't look ANYTHING at all like the works of those FEGA Masters I met in Reno Nevada way back in 1991.
My little "Iceberg" analogy was just something I thought would give any, and all fellow craftsmen a simple mental image of the process.
When a guy like me looks at the works of the modern day Masters, I immediately and totally understand that there was SOOOoooo much work that went into the project BEFORE the actual cutting began.
..and that is why those works of art are so damned impressive.
The research, the design (usually after several have been slaved over), and the perfection in every square millimeter hasn't been left to chance.
My wish is that everyone in our world approaches every job with the intention of making it better than the one before instead of trying to find someone who will just buy it.
Hopefully, my little analogy can be a guiding light for those that really want to get leverage on themselves and understand, like the professional musician, the hours of practice outweigh the mere minutes of the length of the performance.