Ken Hunt

indybrad

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Hi, my name is Brad and I'm new here. I'm on here because I think I may have a Colt pistol that was engraved by Ken C Hunt, but I don't know for sure. Would someone be willing to help me. I think the initials on the left side of the frame may be his. I have tried with no luck to find an email address to contact him. Here are some pics. Thanks




 

fegarex

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Well, I know someone on this forum that would know for SURE but I would discount the initials. #1. They are usually the owner's not the engraver's. #2. I can't tell for sure from the photos but they almost look like they were added. Perhaps it is the photo but it looks like they were cut through the blue. #3. Ken C. Hunt would be KCH not KC.
Whoever did it was well versed in production type engraving.
 

Andrew Biggs

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I'm with Rex.

I would be very surprised if this was Ken Hunts work. It's not his style and the initials are way too big to be the engravers. Normally the engravers initial/signature is a lot more subtle and not so predominant. Normally you have to really look hard to find them because they are so small.

Ken's work is also quite a few levels higher than this engraving as well. Im not suggesting that this is bad engraving .......................but Ken's engraving is on another level altogether.

Cheers
Andrew
 

indybrad

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After looking at some of his work I would have to agree. He does some beautiful work. Thought I might have had the rest of my house paid off with this. Thanks for the input.
 

Marcus Hunt

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I must admit it doesn't look like my father's usual style and several things point to it not being his work. I'll try to copy the pics and take them over to him when I next see him and see what he says. He wouldn't sign just KC though, this is more likely to be the initials of the original commissioning client. Plus the size of it points to it not being the engraver's initials.

It's not badly done though and like others say is a good example of h&c production engraving.
 

Andrew Biggs

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Hi truehand

Just a guess, but I would think that the chisel marks in the cuts are a bit of a clue. :)

I quite like seeing chisel cuts. Depending on the work it can add a lot of character to the job. This year in the Engraver magazine will be a major article about FEGA member and German engraver Claus Willig with some excellent photos of his work. He uses hammer and chisel and you can clearly see some of his chisel marks............it really adds to the personality of the work which is just outstanding and eye wateringly beautiful.

Cheers
Andrew
 

fegarex

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I'm far from an expert on Colts but from the looks of the engraving, I would almost guess this was a factory engraving job. The work is very simple but was well done for what it is. Looking at the design and execution, you can tell the engraver knew what he was doing. Another possible would be a German engraver that probably worked for a gun factory and did this on the side. Again, all of this is a guess but while the work is fairly simple, the engraver wasn't a beginner. You might want to check with the Colt Collectors and see what thay have to say.
 

indybrad

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I've got a friend whose going to check with colt on the seriel No. The gun was made in 1929, so who knows what the history is behind it. Hopefully Colt has something. really appriciate all the help.
 

John B.

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Truehand, Andrew is right on.
The chisel marks represent every tap of the hammer in the cut.
The harder you hit the bigger the marks.
Engravers usually call them progression marks.
The usual speed of the hits with an air tool doesn't leave this size of mark.
You can get close to the same results with power if you turn the stroke speed way down and the power up.
The Ngraver flex shaft machine is great for this if you want to stay with power and get this look all the time, although it can be done with any air tool that I am aware of.

Best wishes, John B.
 

indybrad

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What kind of tools where used during the late 20's or early 30's? Was it mostly H&C? Did engravers use air tools back then? Thanks.
 

Andrew Biggs

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Hi indybrad

Hammer and chisel and the hand push gravers were the tools back then. The air tools came much later. Meeks in his book the art of engraving talks about the Gravermeister and that was in 1973........but I don't know that for sure.

Cheers
Andrew
 

Phil Coggan

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This is not Ken's work! The scrollwork is wrong the leave are wrong and the general courseness/roughness is way below Ken's capabilities even in the early days.

Phil
 

Marcus Hunt

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I have some prints of my father's work in the workshop dating from around the 70's to early 80's. I'll try and scan some of them when I get time and you'll see how cleanly the hammer and chisel are used.

As I say, this pistol definitely isn't his style and if you ever get to study his work you'll see how far away this is from it.
 

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