Thoughts on engraving - I need your advice

Schüler Jumbo said:

I like hand engraving. My only Safari rifle that has any type of engraving is from the factory on my Merkel 140AE. I don’t have engraving on my rifles because of the cost. If I were to engrave I’d want Africa theme with very accurate depictions of game with scroll. If I could afford engraving the cost would be secondary to appropriate coverage for a working rifle. I’m making a distinction between a working rifle and collector’s artwork.

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coreydb said:

I love intricate hand engraving as much as the next guy, but not the price. I have a sporting clays coach who has a 100k Krieghoff with extraordinary scroll work. I asked if he took out a loan and he laughed. He saved all his winnings from competitions until he could afford the work (it took years). I don't know about anyone else, but I'd have to get a second mortgage. I guess if you want scroll work, opt for the best in-house patterns.

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HunterX said:

So you would do laser engraving or hand chased laser engraving if the price was right?

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HunterX said:

What do you all think about engraving of fine safari rifles?
- Is there a preference for Laser engraved, laser engraved plus hand enhanced, or purely hand engraved?
- I imagine the price drives the design for most, having talked to a number of engravers who wouldn’t touch a project for less than $5k.
- So if you were going to buy a ParkWest rifle or Griffin and Howe, which style would you choose? Your rifle is $10-$20k.
- How much coverage would you go with (minimal, medium, full coverage).
- How much would you expect to spend?
- What style of engraving would you choose? American relief, British fine scroll, game scenes surrounded by scrolls? I’d love to hear your ideas.

I have lots of ideas but don’t want to go overboard or over pay. I would want, floor plate, trigger guard, grip cap, front sight and sides of the Mauser action. I’ll do another rifles with a lot less engraving.

Here is one set I am working on:


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HunterX said:

People buy Caesar Guerini Shotguns like the Revenant for $15k+ and they know it is 100% laser engraved. But laser engraving gets a bad wrap. Curious if someone would choose minimal border hand engraving or full blown laser engraving if it was the same price.

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Wyfox said:

@HunterX that laser engraving looks fantastic. Have you came up with any designs for floor plates?

The average person is not willing to pay the premium for hand engraving. Laser engraving will always have a place do to price and time.

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Rifleman97 said:

As an artisan craftsman myself, I like supporting hand done work for the sake of it. There’s something inherently beautiful about a craftsman’s work that is just not there with computer/laser done work. Someone pours days or weeks or months into something, and it just has more soul than something that was done in 30 minutes with a laser and is exactly the same as the next gun on the line. Even with matching patterns, a craftsman’s touch is different every time, so every gun is unique in its own way.

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farmer_john said:

Those look nice where are those from?

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Wyfox said:

@HunterX that laser engraving looks fantastic. Have you came up with any designs for floor plates?

The average person is not willing to pay the premium for hand engraving. Laser engraving will always have a place do to price and time.

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HunterX said:

A appreciate the feedback. If the rifle itself is made by craftsman, hand finished stock shaping, metal work with hand fitting, hand checkering…is it still a hand made treasure if there is some laser engraving that is enhanced by human hands? Designed by a human…but the background and initial layout of lines by a laser. I think I could afford a beautiful full work, if I could reduce the human hours from 120 down to 20. But I will never be able to afford ) $10k just for the engraving. Maybe $1,500.

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Rifleman97 said:

And that’s a very personal choice. I don’t care if other people use laser engraving, but I personally wouldn’t pay extra for it. Some of my guns have machine or laser engraving because they’re cheaper guns that just happen to come with it. But if I was paying a craftsman or company of craftsman like Rigby or similar, I wouldn’t be interested in $1500 laser engraving. I would be more interested in spending that on a fancier checkering pattern or something else that’s done by hand and unique like case color hardening.

I do restorations of pianos, there’s people that use CNC and machines to do some of the things that I do. They don’t have the soul or character in them to me and lack the unique individuality that mine have where each piano kinda tells me what it wants or needs and at the end they all feel and sound unique. My pianos all sound a little different from one another as it’s done by hand and also intent to make them unique to give them a soul. Pianos like new Yamaha’s all sound exactly the same, and while they’re an excellent design (harkening back to a graphic designer making the laser pattern) the fact that the same sound and feel is the same on thousands of other pianos makes it not really unique to me and loses the character and personality of something done by hand. There’s nothing wrong with that, it’s just not for me.

For fun here is some of my recent work. My soundboard, hand carved, every one of those pins was drilled free hand to the correct angle, no jigs, to precise depth.
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Another piano I did, restored original soundboard, new top of bridge
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