Some very early work.

Going way way back...customers pictures for the scenes.

Really nice work, Phil. Even your early engraving was masterfully designed and executed.

I really like your ribbon and scroll border on the bottom edges of the action. I don't believe that I've seen that motif before.

Nice border with the lion

I can't remember doing it but it's also carried over onto the top lever.

Phil

I must give my vote on the border. Outstanding!!!! ..........and the rest is as well.

Always beautiful, early or the latest!

Beautiful as always! I might add that the small detail on the screw head above the elephants trunk caught my eye. Very nice.

Here's the other side...sorry about the picture quality..taken a long time ago and not by me.

Phil

Amazing as always Mr Coggan
I tip my hat for you...

Always a pleasure to get a chance to bear witness to such excellent craftsmanship and artistry, truly inspiring for a humble minion.

thanks for sharing

For all engravers just starting out, if you have a passion like I had when starting...ten times as hard then as I had no engraving tools, no books, video's just engraving pictures in magazines etc. but a way was found...it was hard first off but if you really want to be an engraver and produce fine works, you can do it, but it needs time, practice and dedication, if you haven't got this then don't even start

Phil

Yes, Phil, there must be passion and a very intense desire to engrave. Some on here, such as Marcus Hunt, Rex Pederson and Weldon Lister, as well as a few others I could mention, had a "leg up" on the craft, as there was an already successful master/engraver in the house, so to speak. I know I'm not supposed to, but I envy those that had that experience and talent available at arm's length. When I started in the mid eighties, the passion was there and the desire to create art was intense, but, as you said, not much was available to the novice. I have stated before, and I'll repeat it for those new here, that when I finally located a very good engraver from Germany at a jewelry store in Palm Beach and asked if he could provide some help to get me over a learning bump, his response was "No, you will take my customers!" and promptly turned his back on me. The same thing happened when I was engraving some at a gun show in West Palm Beach and a professional engraver had a table on the other side of the floor, and when I tried to "talk shop," he gave me the cold shoulder and refused to talk to me. Later in the show, he did come by my table, picked up a custom knife I was engraving, walked away (I was busy so I couldn't follow him) and proceeded to engrave the other side, I guess to show me up, as he never offered any words of encouragement or instruction. I often wonder, had I been given proper instruction and encouragement at that time, how good I might have become. Instead, I took a 20 year "vacation" from engraving until retirement, when I learned of available schools to help me get started again. I tried doing long distance instruction through the mail with a correspondence course from Robert Maki, but personal instruction, with someone looking over my shoulder to correct my many bad habits was what was actually needed. But, that is all in the past, and my passion is strong today, and I'm hoping the younger crowd is appreciative of the entire engraving community for reviving the art and techniques. There were a few in my class at GRS that have become excellent Masters at engraving and are doing well. For some of us though, the old age thing just keeps showing up. Oh well, that's life, and I'm still enjoying the ride!

Bill

As I have also mentioned before Bill, I didn't know what engraving tools looked like, but I made my own with trial and error.

I somehow got hold of a Beretta catalogue, I wrote to them asking for help with how to inlay and what steel is used for gravers, I actually got a reply from one of their well know engravers and also some inlay sketches but my question about the steel and where I could buy some came back with "it's a trade secret"!

Phil