What makes a "Master"

To start, I am not an engraver, nor am I a master of much of anything. I'm here because of great admiration for this art and respect for many of the great engravers here.

In browsing engravers' websites, I see many describing themselves as "Master Engravers." How do they come by the title? I know that FEGA identifies a very specific set of abilities and criteria for attaining their Master certification. Does something similar exist for other engravers?

Be aware that I am not challenging anyone's use of the term. Far from it; I stand in awe of all of you. I ask in the vein of another member who has set himself a goal of becoming an FEGA master in 2 years. If someone were to set a similar non-gun goal (regardless of 2 or 20 years), what are the criteria or standards that define the goal?

Since there are no apprenticeships here in the U.S. ... the title of "master" is awarded, on the basis of merit, by a recognized authority or organization. Other than that, for those who use the title "out-of-school", use it fraudulently as a marketing/promotional gimmick.

In my opinion .... so long as there is something I do not know how to do or a question that I can not answer pertaining to the art, then I will remain a journeyman. That is merely my personal philosophy and similar to the study of "real" martial arts, this is a lifetime endeavor (or "journey").

All I truly wish for is that history is kind when judging my work 100 years after the box is shoveled over with dirt.

Chris

Bob,

You ask a question that is valid and frequently asked. What follows is the definition from Roger Bleile's International, Illustrated Glossary of Hand-Engraving Terminology. I hope this helps you and others who are curious about the issue.

Roger

MASTER ENGRAVER – In the United States, the Firearms Engravers Guild of America has in place a process to certify highly skilled gun engravers and bestow the title of FEGA Master Engraver. To achieve this certification, a member engraver must submit an application, meet certain requirements (such as having a federal firearms license), and submit sample work to a jury of previously certified masters. At present there are approximately 41 FEGA Certified Masters in the United States. FEGA Certified Masters are authorized to use an official seal to designate their status.

It should be noted that all FEGA members are not certified masters however there are members who engrave at the highest levels of the art who, for personal reasons, have not chosen to go through the process of becoming certified.

Also in the US, the Colt Firearms Co. certifies certain gun engravers as “Colt Master Engraver.â€￾ The fact that an engraver works in the Colt factory does not automatically qualify the engraver as a Colt Master. This designation is bestowed by the head of the Colt Custom Shop on those deemed qualified. A very few freelance engravers are designated as Colt Master Engravers by virtue of their selection to engrave the annual Colt Collectors Assn. show gun which is inevitably a very ornate museum quality show piece.

A small number of other engravers working in the United States carry an official designation of Master Engraver by virtue of having received that designation from a sanctioning agency in another country such as Austria, Belgium, France, or Germany. All other gun engravers in North America who use the title “Master Engraverâ€￾ are using a self-bestowed title.

In the jewelry and die making trades there are no guilds to certify master engravers however some jewelry or die engravers may have received such a designation from their employer.

Outside the United States, particularly in Europe, there are formal schools, trade guilds, or official governmental bodies who are authorized to bestow the title of Master Engraver on those who have met strict guidelines and passed written and skill tests as well as sufficient longevity in the trade.

Roger Bleile said:

...
Outside the United States, particularly in Europe, there are formal schools, trade guilds, or official governmental bodies who are authorized to bestow the title of Master Engraver on those who have met strict guidelines and passed written and skill tests as well as sufficient longevity in the trade.

Click to expand...

The title "Master" (German: Meister) is protected by law in Germany.

Yup..
What Roger said... That explains it as well as I could say it concerning the US and also FEGA.

An excellent question, Bob- and one I've never seen answered without applying a highly subjective set of standards, applied by an equally subjective group of individuals*. IMHO, there are a great many engravers who use the term- either self-described or the marginally more legitimate organizational designation- that outside of a fairly narrow range of ability are stretching the definition, to put it politely.

Is someone who does fantastic lettering but can't cut a decent scroll if it would save his life a 'master'? What about some of those who do phenomenal bulino scenes, but whose florid decoration is a horrid abomination? Then there are a few I could name (but won't) who are unbelievable engravers in that they are almost without peer cutting lines in metal, but whose artistic inclinations in the placement of those lines - and not just their taste- leave much to be desired.

I guess when I'm king, there will be various classes/categories of mastery that could be earned. And a very high standard, both in versatility & overall quality of that work, would need to be met to earn the title of General Master Engraver or some such suitably lofty imprimatur.

*I've often been dismayed at the 'clubbish' or 'cliquish' manner of some organizations when bestowing such honors. It's not unusual to see it devolve into a good ol' boys club, where members are voting for each other, so as not to hurt anyone's feelings or leave anybody out. The prevailing attitude tends to be, "Well, we can't not include ol' _____, he's been engraving for forty years!" To which I might reply, "Yeah, but he stopped getting any better 39 yrs ago- and I wouldn't let him engrave my social security # on the back of my TV with a vibro-graver..."

Bottom line, you can't have a club with only one member, but if you ask me- and you kinda did- the term has been pretty abused over the years.

Just to expand a little bit on the FEGA Master Engravers.....................The title/qualification is to encourage members to strive for excellence. Like all things in life it may not be everyone's cup of tea. But it's there for those that see it as being important and worth having. For those that don't think it's relevant to them, then that's perfectly fine as well. It's just about personal choice.

It used to be that the judging was done by an appointed panel. Then that changed a couple of years ago and when a member submits his/her work.......... all the masters at the convention evaluate the work and judge it with a scoring system for different categories like lettering, inlay, scene work etc.. The scores are then added up and double checked.

In theory the applicants identities are kept secret. However it's fair to say that some engravers work is readily identifiable in some minority cases. The scoring system is also one that works well because it eliminates any bias in terms of someone deliberately overscoring or underscoring.

Being heavily involved in the process at Reno this year it was pretty obvious that the masters took the job very seriously and put quite a bit of thought into it. What was also interesting, adding up the scores, is that they were all very close to one another which showed there was a real consensus amongst them.

Initially the applicant submits photos and if their work seems to be good enough, then the process begins. The reason for this is to prevent someone whose work clearly is not up to speed from being publically embarrassed.

After the work has been judged and the applicant doesn't pass the first time around, then that should not bee seen as a failure by the applicant. They are shown where there work could improve and encouraged to come back and try again in the future. This is done by a couple of very experienced FEGA Master Engravers.

Is it the perfect system?.............No, it isn't, but it's the best we can work out so far and there will always be room for improvement. The perfect system doesn't exist and never will.

Will it be contentious and other engravers disagree with the outcomes one way or the other??........yes, that is just human nature in everything we do. The alternative is to always do nothing.

So long as you get it right 97% of the time...........who cares about the other 3%

Cheers
Andrew

There is another facet to this.

Your customers can tag you with that title as well. No matter how many times you correct them they still stick you with it. Their intentions are good and they do it out of fondness for you and your work. It has no meaning at all as an official title in that case and it can cause others, who know better, to look at you in a bad light thinking you have arrogantly taken the title upon yourself.

I never put much stock in titles and see no real reason for them. If we would just completely get rid of them it would save a lot of hassle and confusion all the way around.

My 2 cents,

Ray

Thanks all!
Roger & Rex: I should have re-read the glossary. On seeing your answer, a little bell rang. Thanks for the courteous reminder.

Andrew: Yes, I gathered that FEGA had a reputable qualifying process. I find gun engraving very impressive and appealing. Yet, I live in New York where the gummit can't leave us alone and I think all the permitting is beyond what I can suffer. Maybe we need to move to Wyoming?

Mario: Many countries in Europe are like that. My daughter lives in Austria where they also have legal protection for the term.

Mitch, Chris, Ray: Well understood! Having worked as a software engineer for several decades, I saw all sorts of certification processes. Most in that world were for the purpose of selling courses, study guides, etc. ... and most employers gave those certifications the value they were worth: not much, not worth pursuing.

So, I'll follow Chris's lead and consider the pursuit of mastery a lifetime journey. Since I've already used up a lot of a lifetime, I'd better get hoppin'.

Bob, I know exactly where you are coming from. Was a systems engineer for years ... Vines, Novel, NT and then Linux. In the beginning, they were great credentials to have until Microsoft ruined it all and turned it into a training treadmill & certification circus. Only those who "manage by magazine" still fall for it. So long as Microsoft stays out of engraving, I suspect the credentials earned will always continue to add value.

Best wishes with your venture into engraving. It is indeed far more rewarding to create an heirloom than it is something that requires re-installation in six months. Of course, I sure do miss the big consulting bucks Your ability to speed read a tech manual and come up with solutions quickly back in the old days will help you learn engraving faster than most. The art-side is a challenge. The FEGA newsletter is essential and always full of helpful stuff .... especially the pictures.

Chris

I am and always will be a student in pursuit of perfection.
Mark

Bob
It sounds like you're from my old neck of the woods according to your NNW of NYC .
As bad as you think the legislation is up where you are and I assume it's Rockland county.Just be glad you don't live in NYC

Having gone through 4 years of formal apprenticeship as a Joiner(cabinetmaker) and received my journymanship through demonstration and testing, I would like to add my comments to what is a "Master". The United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America and the shop owners sat down together and established a set of guidelines, designed a curriculum of work/study, selected instructional materials and established a time line for the study and skill building of the skills necessary to demonstrate the skill required to be assigned a job and both organizations be confident that it would be carried out to a certain skill level.

The establishment of the skills requires a professional quality standard in all phases of joinery. Certain skills require a certain amount of time for study and certain amount of time in on the job skill development specific to the task. For example, finishing required 6 months of study and on the job work experience.

When the program was established a series of skill tests and demonstrations was developed to determine the competencies of those already practicing the trade. The negotiations were sticky in that those failing to meet standards could not be penalized for failure by the owners as far as pay was concerned but they could not go to a new company and claim jouneyman status either. Certain ratios of production worker to apprentice to jouneyman were also established.

The standards are set at a national level and skills required are also national. When I was an apprentice I worked for a company in Denver which is the largest commercial fixture house in the USA. I our shop management had embarrassed the now common "biscuit cutter" in many joints that used to be mortise and tenon. Big problem for me. I had to work at these joints a specific number of hours to meet the guidelines. The owner (former practicing journeyman) made arrangements for me to work in a small furniture shop to get the hours and skills required in equipment no longer in use in his shop.

When I received my joureymanship I believe I was prouder than when I received my PhD.
We were the elite in the trade. The Local could send any of us out to a shop and have confidence that what we would provide was the highest skill level in the trade-capable of carrying out any task in the cabinet business required of us. The company owners were also confident that what showed up for work could walk into the shop and go to work as if they had been there for years. There was not any question of what we could do.

The cabinet trade consciously made the decision not to use the term master as the only masters were the teachers. In the old counties were the guilds were long established the reason for a master was they had the skills required to train apprentices up to the level of journeyman and beyond (carving for instance). By becoming a master you would establish your ability to train and teach-not be a better tradesman. If you operated a shop in any of the glided trades that would employee new apprentices you needed a master to provide the training.

In my humble opinion the term master is used as a marketing tool in the engraving business and nothing more. Colt uses the term in this way as does the guy on gunbroker who sells some dreadful work. In the early days of the gun manufacturing trade in this country I believe that the houses like cold and Griffin Howe used the term to indicate the individuals who oversaw the engraving shop and were responsible for the training of in house apprenticeships. Those days are gone forever.Specialization and automation has eliminated them. There is no guild in this country and anyone who has engraved a couple of knives a gun or two and and a piece of jewelry with a few letters can be master if they choose to be.

I would also comment on higher education in the old countries-A doctorate was awarded (equivent to Master as discussed here) when the recepent had made a significant contribution to the feild of study-you did not earn a PhD it was given by your peers- medical doctors took the term and made it into a termainal degree level to show how much they had studied-not how much they knew or how much practice they had.

Becoming a journeyman is my goal. I have no desire to be a master, no intentions of training apprentices ever.

my two cents Fred

Fancygun: Yep, Rockland. Sloatsburg, where the Davis Sporting Goods shop left town because of legal hassles. They're still around, just a bit further down the road.

Fred: Understood. I once read a bit of philosophy that said there was nothing more dangerous than a simple idea in a small mind. The small mind takes it and distorts it beyond all reason. I like your and Mark's student / journeyman goal!

Bob, the 'titles' thing is a bit obscure throughout the world in my view. What one is called is really a matter of being able to back it up with real commercial productivity and being able to stand behind your work with pride. To some a bit of paper is important to others, well it's just not available.

I studied, as most of you know, under my father Ken Hunt. Now my apprenticeship, because it was a family thing, was informal and I have no papers to show for it. My father also missed out on being given the 'Freedom of the City of London' (which seals and finalizes an apprenticeship in London) because the year before some apprentices had got drunk and misbehaved. My father never pursued this as he could have done and consequently was never presented with his documents as far as I'm aware. But I challenge anyone to say he isn't worthy of the term "Master" just because he doesn't have a piece of paper that says so.

The students who qualify for their degree in engraving arts at Emporia SU finish their course and have a certificate at the end of it. I have no such paper. but does that in any way make me less of a Master of my trade? If I want a piece of paper I can knock something up on the computer and get my father to sign it if I feel the need and it will be just as valid.....or would it?

I used the term "Master Engraver" on my website partly because I saw a lot of crap coming from other engravers who called themselves Masters, and I wanted to up the ante a bit. Do I feel comfortable using the term? Yes and no. Yes, because I've done it the hard way and have 30 years of experience behind me. And no, because I use the term "Fine Sporting Gun Engraver" more and I think it actually describes what I do better. But now I'm wanting to go into other fields of engraving the term Master Engraver might suit me better.

I'm a master of what I do, that is to say engraving in the gun engraving style. I do not engrave Western Bright Cut (though I dare say I could learn) so I would never term myself Master in this style. Does this make me any less of a master engraver because I don't engrave this way?

By the way, just because someone has completed an apprenticeship doesn't necessarily make them a good engraver. An apprenticeship can and does give a grounding in competence; it can't and won't instill artistic flair, etc. This is another thing entirely in my opinion. You can have excellent, technically competent engravers who are not artists and vice versa, but each can deliver quality work but in different ways.

Fred, whilst I respect your opinion and your qualification, what would happen to someone like me in your cabinet making field? What if I'd learned the most fantastic cabinet making from my father who didn't have any formal qualifications himself? Does that make me any less of a master/journeyman? I agree that the term "Master" is mainly a marketing thing but someone has to market themselves as no one else will. It's the quality of work that matters at the end of the day.

One definition in the dictionary for master is:a worker or artisan qualified to teach apprentices d (1) : an artist, performer, or player of consummate skill (2)

That could describe a whole bunch of us, but I think Marcus has it "Spot on".
Who could argue that Ken Hunt is not a master engraver? He has probably forgotten more than I'll ever know.
And titles are just that---Titles. Good to have earned, but you can't eat them or pay a mortgage with them.

Don Glaser once told me,"I don't have to know how to make an apple pie, to know if I'm eating a good one."

Some of this logic might apply to engraving.

Marcus, The Brotherhood made stipulations for allowing people like your father and you and others to demonstrate and/or test into journeyman status. Please remember that we worked for companies and to them and us it set the pay rate. I believe that is probably the case with gun manufactures engraving departments as well. Freelance is as you say open to interpretation. Myself, I bestow the title on those that earned it in my opinion, but I keep my designation of others to myself. There are many who definitely have the skills in one or more areas of engraving. Some people teach and could be classed as master teachers-there skills are in passing information on sometimes they are the same person. Fred

Hello Bob, let me interject a little humor with a little truth. Here in america one only has to go down the local sign shop and have his shingle made. He or she can say they are a master engraver, master gunsmith, what ever you want it to say. And you are in business. It is that simple. Don't try that as an electritian, plummer or medical doctor.

Hell, it worked for me.

Ed