Post-purchase engraving

[idiot101]

Has anyone ever taken a rifle they already owned to get engraved?

I have a Chapuis double rifle with some rather early laser engraving, which unfortunately looks like early laser engraving. And, being a tinkerer of things I naturally enough thought "I like this, but it would be better if" which led me down the rabbit hole of engraving after-the-fact.

There is a company: Fox&Co Bespoke that I came across which does hand finished lazer engraving. A two man team, one apprenticed at Holland and Holland, the other had a career at Westley Richards and so I asked whether they could redo it in a tight classic scroll all over. They can of course for £3.6k design and engrave a totally custom piece exactly to my tastes including family crests, names, whatever really. Unfortunately that’ll have to wait for me - I’m not rich yet and £3.6k is still a lot to spend.

But it made me wonder - is this a thing? I thought of it, and someone has a business doing it so it must be.

Well, fellow members, has anyone done this? How did it turn out? are you glad you did?

 

[idiot101]

@HunterX

This might be of interest to you?

 

[HunterX]

So I am thinking that unless it laser engraved plus hand engraved it will always look too uniform and laser engraved. Hand engraving costs a lot, because there aren’t enough engravers and skills craftspeople are hard to find. I have found a good hand engraver who is reasonable. But something like the picture on the bottom is still going to be a lot.

 

[HunterX]

Its pretty though.

 

[Major Bonkers]

The price is quite absurd. It is more than double what hand engraving ought to cost (on a trade basis).

You are entering the gun-owner's trap of making a silk purse out of a pig's ear.

Most engravers will be doubtful if the gun has already been case hardened.

Bear in mind that personal engraving will diminish the second-hand value of the gun. Best to stick with acanthus scroll.

Talk to Andy Miles: http://www.andymiles.org/ : that's the horse's mouth. Otherwise Mark Crudgington at George Gibbs or Paul Roberts at J. Roberts.

 

[idiot101]

The price is quite absurd. It is more than double what hand engraving ought to cost (on a trade basis).

You are entering the gun-owner's trap of making a silk purse out of a pig's ear.

Most engravers will be doubtful if the gun has already been case hardened.

Bear in mind that personal engraving will diminish the second-hand value of the gun. Best to stick with acanthus scroll.

Talk to Andy Miles: http://www.andymiles.org/ : that's the horse's mouth. Otherwise Mark Crudgington at George Gibbs or Paul Roberts at J. Roberts.

Thank you Major, I'm glad I ran it past the members here. I'll reach out to your suggestions and check feasibility once it's back from France

 

[Cabelcan]

If the rifle already means something to you and you hunt with it regularly, do it when you can swing it. £3.6k for full custom is steep but turns it into a one-of-one piece with your crests, names, or favorite animals. Even a more modest scroll refresh makes a huge difference on doubles like Chapuis. It's a "tinkerer" upgrade that actually adds lasting value and joy every time you pick it up.

 

[Huvius]

"picking up' engraving is common practice in the restoration biz. That is - recutting worn down or damaged engraving.
I've had this done to some guns - even to the point of striking off the entire surface and the original engraving recut or new engraving added to a plain action. That was a Jeffery Farq so a flat surface.
There are a few engravers in the US whom do this work - wouldn't be a bad idea to check out https://acgg.org/ and make some inquiries.
If in England, there are still engravers doing work for makers who don't have in house engravers which is most of them.

 

[Sideshow]

I thought about doing this to my SO4 but the colour hardening put a stop to it.