newbie question

[Jeff Olson]

A little background my name is Jeff i've been a jeweler for25 yrs. I just got into hand engraving a couple of years ago just as a hobby and for custom work on jewelry. Being An avid gun guy naturally the progression is to start engraving guns. My question is on pricing being still a novice engraver what is the going price on gun engraving. Any help would be appreciated. This is a piece I'm working on at the moment

 

[Ed Westerly]

I have had the same question in the past, so at this year's FEGA show, I asked all of the master engravers what they would have charged to engrave two of the guns I had on my table. One was full coverage, relieved and stippled, with 9.5' of 24 kt gold wire. The other was open German scroll, full coverage, no relief no gold. There was a very wide range of answers, and the knowledge I came away with was that the price you can get depends at least on the following factors.
1. How much do you need to be paid to make it worth your time?
2. How well known are you?
3. Are there a fair number of collectors who like your work?
4. Are you as good as you think you are?
5. Is your work innovative, unique and interesting?
6. There may be other lessons, but those are the ones that come to mind at the present.

 

[Jeff Olson]

Well put Bruce thank you for your input. At this point being a true novice I'm definitely at a disadvantage. Right now I am having such a blast doing it I almost feel like I should pay them for letting me practice on their firearms. Being a JA master jeweler I definitely understand how to price my one off custom pieces. However, my jewelry engraving and decoration in my area I'm quiet well known and can get paid on my reputation alone. If I put a price on a job it is what it is. My client list and resume allow me the freedom to charge accordingly. I guess I will have to figure a price that I wish you get paid pet hour of work and see how close I can get to my time estimate per job.

 

[Barry Lee Hands]

whatever you think you are worth is where it ends up selling for.

 

[Andrew Biggs]

Welcome to the forum Jeff.

That's a real tough question because there are so many variables. Bruce has mentioned a few above and the most important is #1..............because you need to eat!!!

You obviously know how to price your jewellery work, so in principle, the gun engraving is a similar exercise. Same if you are engraving knives or anything else really.

People often ask these sorts of questions and the answers are many and varied and depend so much on the individual. I was one of the people that Bruce (above) chatted to at the FEGA show (and it was a real pleasure visiting with him)......the range of answers he got was huge.

What Barry has just told you is very true.

Cheers
Andrew

 

[Ed Westerly]

Not to steal your thread, Jeff, but is that Firestar a Starvel one, or is it just completely deblued? If it is Starvel, how is it cutting? I have one that I haven't started to engrave because I wasn't sure whether I could!

 

[Jeff Olson]

Hey Bruce it is a Firestar 9mm 1911 it has not been deblued that is factory finish . It is cutting beautifully. The metal rolls very nicely not flakey at all I wish they all cut this nicely... Thank you all for input and thanks for the warm welcome to the forum I hope to be a helpful and productive member. I know I will be able to learn so much from every one here so excited to have found this forum.

 

[Ed Westerly]

Jeff, if it's not been blued, then it's what they called Starvel. I had always thought that that was some form of nickle, but if it's cutting well, it must be something else. (I guess that's why they called it Starvel and not nickle!!!!)

 

[unclejim1955]

I had a guy look at some of my work today and he said "how much do you charge to do a gun?" I told him that was like asking how much I would charge to paint his house and I've never seen his house. I said I would need to see the actual gun, talk about what he wanted and then take some time to contemplate the ins and outs of the job before I could give him an answer.

 

[monk]

there's no such thing as "a going price". if you operate as a business, better put everything in the equation to figure your price. first order of business-- try to determine the depth of your clients' pockets. he or she may be way above or below your "league" as to what you might charge. quality work can be delivered to those lean of pocket. you can still do work for them, you just do less coverage. many will not agree with me on this- but somehow you gotta start. get a bit of experience under your belt doing this work. time every phase of what you do & keep records. phone time. travel time, & time spent with the client. all materials and overhead should be included. don't forget-- if you spend a few hours working up a drawing-- don't give this time away. if you give anything away, it will hurt you in the long run. it's a natural thought for a newbie to devalue their work for the sake of landing a job. this art is relatively rare, and is a skill not too easy to become proficient in..

 

[Ed Westerly]

Very true, Monk. If I waited around for the show piece, full coverage, no holds barred job and rejected "little" jobs, I would still be waiting for my first commission. I love big jobs, but the smaller, limited coverage ones pay the bills.

 

[Arnaud Van Tilburgh]

Jeff, I'm a goldsmith for over 30 years. I charge the same price a minute for stone setting, smiting engraving or whatever. Only at home when I cook or reply on treads like in the Café, it is for free.

But it all is already said by others.

arnaud