Help, please: Hey folks, New to the forum, wish I had the talent, but I don't! Need an engraver.

[Balkandom]

Hello all,

First of all, I'm jealous of all of you. I got my neck crunched and I was medically retired from the military and my fine motor skills are gone. Kudos to all of you and the things you do to almost anything made out of metal.

That being said, a friend of mine is building an African rifle for me in 500 Jeffrey. He is young and limited in his resources, but he is a precision machinist by trade and just put up his gunsmithing shingle. I believe in his abilities, and what he is going to build for me is going to be exquisite in every way,

I'm having it built in the English Safari tradition, with all the associated bells and whistles. What I need to make it complete is an engraver. Nothing fancy, just good coverage in English scrollwork throughout...simple elegance. I would prefer someone new, someone young, someone that wants exposure, because this rifle is going to get a lot. I'm not sparing any expense, but I do not want to spend any more than I must. Hopefully this rifle will be a prototype of many to come.

If this sounds like something you would be interested in, please shoot me an email or message me here, I would love to hear from you.

Regards,

Mike

 

[dlilazteca]

Have you searched locally, would be a good idea.

Carlos De La O III

 

[Dulltool]

Sounds a little fishy to me.

 

[Bama]

Another, I want the best but I do not want to pay for it, really I would like you to just give me your work and I will brag on you a little. That should be enough pay for all the years you have put into learning to make beautiful scrolls.

Thank you kind sir

 

[Weldon47]

Thats a Nice one!

 

[Beladran]

if you have neck damage mike why in the world would you want a 500 jeffery?

 

[katia]

You know what? I am not a very active member of the forum and do not visit it very often, but I am a self employed engraver ( I have worked for the fine English gun trade for more than a decade now.)
And this, THIS, is the first post I see????!!!! With This sentence? "I would prefer someone new, someone young, someone that wants exposure, because this rifle is going to get a lot. I'm not sparing any expense, but I do not want to spend any more than I must. Hopefully this rifle will be a prototype of many to come."
What a disgrace! How many times have I heard this? If you are " young and want exposure" please, look away now and Don't even think about it.

 

[Sam]

I can't think of a worse way to start off with an engraving inquiry than to offer "exposure". Those of us who have been in the business for many years know that 99% of the time "exposure" ends up having zero value.

Offer a fair price for the work you want.
Tell us what your budget is and maybe someone can help you.
Don't offer "exposure" deals because all it does is makes everyone suspicious of you.

 

[Marcus Hunt]

The thing is Mike, you are looking at this all wrong. If you are kosher and are investing what sounds like a lot of money in this project you'd want a decent "named" engraver with a pedigree. Employ the wrong person and you can see the value of your investment fall through the floor and it's very easy to screw up engraving on a rifle.

If you are building a custom rifle, do your research and find a good engraver who can prove they can do a good job and if you don't want to spend a huge amount on engraving name your budget and allow the engraver to work to that. It's better to have a $1000 of good engraving than $500 of crap! Gun engraving is a highly specialised field; gun engravers can engrave most things but it doesn't always work the other way around e.g. a jewellery or copperplate engraver is highly unlikely to be able to engrave a gun or rifle straight off without training themselves to do so. So make sure the person you find (and no, I don't want the job, lol) can show their bona fides regarding firearms. The FEGA website might be a place to start looking?

Forgive us if we old hands appear cynical, as Katia says, any of us who have been in the gun engraving line for any amount of time have heard these promises countless times before.

 

[dlilazteca]

Now I feel better all you have summed up my thoughts I really was not sure if it was right thing to do..

But it sounds like something is not right here!

But I have a question would I have to send in a deposit?

Sign me up then

Carlos De La O III

 

[DakotaDocMartin]

Forgive us if we old hands appear cynical, as Katia says, any of us who have been in the gun engraving line for any amount of time have heard these promises countless times before.

As an old friend used to say: "First time I've heard that... again!"

 

[Southern Custom]

Hey, I just got Marcus' book, maybe I can test out my new fine English skills on this gun! (do I need to add the lol here?)
If I had a dollar for every person that's asked me to engrave something for the exposure value, I'd have retired by now. The worst part of that is that I fell for it at one time and cut a gun that I probably shouldn't have because it stroked my ego.
I wonder if the machinist who has never built a gun is banking on the same exposure for his first masterpiece. Don't know if I'd want to be the one to put a 500 Jeffery up to my shoulder that is the guys first build.
I smell trouble for all involved.
And Mike, do take Marcus' advice with regard to your choice of engraver. No matter how well built the gun is, poor engraving would ruin any future the gun had and a new engraver is the least likely to know whether it's a project he or she should take on or not.
Layne

 

[monk]

The reality of business- yes we are business people, with a very highly specialized product-- engraving art. I think nobody is going to accept your offer without a healthy deposit before the fact. Why ? When the rifle is done, you could possibly be broke by then. Not many engravers want another "sample" to stick in the corner. If my response offends, remember the word reality

 

[Marrinan]

The only thing missing is the offer of getting the project into one of the gun mags.-No oe one ever had that offer did they> Fred

 

[mitch]

Layne brought up an excellent point that i thought of the first time i opened this thread. the 'gunmaker' is a good machinist, but has never actually built a rifle before? and he's going to start with a big bore express stopper with all the bells & whistles??? i have a feeling it's gonna turn out 'extra-special' and the trade may be buzzing about it some day, but not how this guy wants...

 

[Marcus Hunt]

Although, to be fair Mitch, he's a) going to have to buy in a barrel anyway so b) why not use a tried and trusted action too. No one says you have to machine up your own actions. Building a bolt rifle is not actually that difficult if you have some idea of what you are doing. The machining skills come into it when fitting sights, scope mounts, etc. What worries me is that this guy "Mike" is willing to spend out on a novice, untried "gunsmith" to build him a rifle and then wants a novice, untried engraver to engrave it.

And "Mike" has gone very quiet after starting this thread. Where are you "Mike"??? Personally, this feels like there's a bit of trolling going on.

 

[DakotaDocMartin]

Personally, this feels like there's a bit of trolling going on.

Ya think?

 

[silverchip]

You might have stuck to "I need an engraver"!!!!!

 

[Ed Westerly]

To the engraver who takes on this project...

Please don't sign it!

 

[Balkandom]

Folks, thank you for your input. I made a mistake coming here. As far as my gunsmith is concerned, although new as a gunsmith, he is a DOD contracted precision machinist that does exquisite work in everything that he does. This is not his first rifle, this is the first rifle he is building that he does not have to worry about a shoestring budget.

That being said, he is unknown, but his work is solid and speaks for itself. I know **** from Shinola and his work is better than people I know that have had their shingle for many years. I was simply asking from the point that he IS unknown and new, as probably many of the folk here are..I'm taking a chance on him because I know I am right. I'm hoping to find someone here in the same boat. I am not asking for free work. Bama and Katia, I don't know you, but I sincerely wish that we were face to face, so you could both understand my seriousness and also know that I do not appreciate being insulted. Come to Arkansas, meet me face to face, and say what you typed. I would like that.

I look forward to hearing any replies.

Regards,

Mike