Don't try this at home!

If you want to maintain your sanity at any rate I wouldn't recommend taking on silly jobs like this.
Obviously nothing special about this simple outline of the double eagle from the Albanian flag. It wasn't till I sat down to cut it that it dawned on me just how delicate this simple engraving was and that its the last time I'll take a job like this. Any slips, it's over. Look at it wrong and it scratches. Touch it with a tool and it's marred. One of those little Sig P238s with a black parkerized type finish. I agreed to it on a whim because the client wanted to match the "through the black" factory scroll and flower on the back. Every time I lifted the graver at the end of a cut I winced. Too much room for error and not enough money for the stress. Call me a wimp. Here's a short explanation of the process in smileys.:biggrin::thinking::no::beatup:

Layne,

Lots of pucker factor, but it really looks beautiful.

High risk and high liability. An younger Sam would have taken it on. An older and more cautious Sam would not.

Bingo. My skull is a little to thick for my line of work.
My partners here often tell me "just price it high enough" The reality is no price would justify taking on some jobs.

One thing that will give you a little breathing room on a job like that is to coat your subject with white spray on stencil paint then apply your design. As you cut, the paint will give just enough protection to the original finish to keep your curling chip from making a scratch. Also if you have a fly-out, you can apply cold blue or blacking to the scratch and the paint will keep the cold blue from mottling the un-scratched part.

Cutting through the blue is still a risky business and only for those with a steady hand.

Looks great, Layne.

Been there, done that with the can't slip jobs..............and I don't think I would do it again.

Cheers
Andrew

Cutting through the blue is still a risky business and only for those with a steady hand.[/QUOTE]

Roger, is this the reason so many engravers don't like "through the blue" engraving? I've read posts from engravers that sound like the appearance is an unpopular one. Personally I've always liked the look.

Thanks Roger!! If I ever find myself in this situation again, I'll take advantage of that tip.
I know that Jim Downing does through blue cutting all day long like it's nothing. Granted he keeps the designs fairly simple and somewhat repetitious so muscle memory helps out there. Not for me!

dave gibson said:

Cutting through the blue is still a risky business and only for those with a steady hand.

Click to expand...

Roger, is this the reason many engravers don't like "through the blue engraving"? I've seen a lot of posts that sound like the appearance is an unpopular one. Personally I've always liked how it looks.[/QUOTE]

Dave, That is one of the reasons. Another is that if your tools and/or style of cutting leaves a burr there is no way to knock it down without damaging the blue. That can be solved by using a short parallel heel on a square graver. Another problem with cutting through the blue is cutting Scrollwork that requires background treatment, like American scroll. If you use a circle or dot punch for the background some of the punching will cut through the blue and some will not which will leave a spotty look to the background. So a gun that is cut through the blue will look best cut in flare style or regular scroll with no background treatment. If you cut the latter you need to heavily shade the leaves and finial or the scroll will look transparent.

Next, many believe that if you cut through the blue the cuts will rust because it is bare metal. In reality bluing doesn't protect against rust, it just hides it until it is so bad that there is no saving it. I have an S&W that I cut through over 30 years ago when I was a police officer. I carried it on duty regularly. With normal oiling and maintenance, there is no rust.

Lastly, some think that cutting through the blue makes the engraving look cheap. It is true that no fine gun like a Purdey or Krieghof would ever be cut through but when it comes to some revolvers, some people like the look. It seems like cowboy action shooters like the look and that is why Jim Downing gets a lot of that kind of work.

Looks good! When I have a project where the entire surface can not be marred (cannon, bell, mirror bike part, etc.) I put blue painters tape everywhere I can so that no extraneous "slip" hurts the work. This includes any area that I have already finished engraving - or any area that I have not yet gotten to. It's not the best insurance, but it does help me handle and work around the project with a little less stress. Some projects come in and are completely covered in the tape before they even go down to the studio.

I do cut through the blue for customers on occasion, but they are always warned of two things... I won't sign it, and they need to protect from rust by oiling or waxing. One customer didn't take GOOD care of his, and the next time I saw it, it looked hideous!

I've never engraved through bluing and never will,it's unprofessional. J.J.