1911 Slide

davidshe · Feb 26, 2016

Decided to dip my toe into the world of gun engraving. Don't own a gun (yet) so thought I would start by purchasing a 1911 stainless slide from ebay and use it as a practice and sample piece. Just engraved one side so far. Tried cutting a few various types of designs just to get the feel of doing them on a gun. I learned a lot by doing this project. Later this year I hope to spend a few days with a master gun engraver and move forward a bit more. I will be working on getting my scrollwork more conventional and the next time I did something like this one I would enlarge the english scroll on the top so it touches the borders. Seems like too much deep relief around them. Compared to knives and watches there sure is a lot of area to engrave!! Any input, comments or suggestions are welcome. Thanks.

Ragnarok · Mar 1, 2016

I can already see the beginnings of what we call a "bar-b-que gun" in TX. I really like the more open look like this has as compared to having a scroll/swirly every .001". it reminds me of older leather/silver work. by the way, the "arrow" engraving you have on the top of the slide should help pull the shooters eye straight to the front sight. that's why we serrate the top of 1911 slides. well, that and it looks good. continue on sir, it looks great.

davidshe · Mar 2, 2016

Ragnarok - thanks for looking and thank you for your comments!

Ed Westerly · Mar 4, 2016

VERY nice first slide. You are correct in your assessment of the english scroll, it should touch the edges of the area to be covered. My question, though is why did you use english scroll? It would have looked 2000X better if you had used the same scroll type throughout. Are you thinking "sample gun"?

davidshe · Mar 4, 2016

Hi Bruce. Yes, I just did one side of this slide for something to show to a couple of gun stores in my area. After I added the running leaf borders I thought I would try some english scroll between them. Should have stuck with the same style as you said. But, it was still pretty effective when I showed it to the local gun shop owners. Better than just a picture. I am working on my first actual gun project now. A Kimber 1911. I will post pics of it when I am done and I would love to hear your input. Thanks for taking the time to comment.

1911maker · Mar 4, 2016

Wow, well done! Obviously you have done engraving before!

Omar Haltam · Mar 4, 2016

looks great and thanks for the idea, just buying the slide for practice makes sense

davidshe · Mar 4, 2016

1911maker said:
Wow, well done! Obviously you have done engraving before!

Thanks and yes, I have been engraving jewelry, watches and knives for a few years now.

davidshe · Mar 4, 2016

Omar Haltam said:
looks great and thanks for the idea, just buying the slide for practice makes sense

My opinion was that is was a small cost relative to screwing up a gun, especially someone else's gun!

monk · Mar 5, 2016

i always like to see a balance between background and design. i think when one crams every sq. mm with design, the eye ( at least mine) gets confused. this way, my eye concentrates more on the design work, less time wandering around. thanks for showing

davidshe · Mar 5, 2016

Thanks for your input Monk. Much appreciated!

1911 Slide

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