Re: Hello from PA
Sam,
You may have read this on this or the other engraving forum already but I will repeat it anyway. Learn to draw properly formed and detailed scroll work before you start cutting on guns. Nearly 100% of all the poorly engraved guns I have examined over the last 35 years were due to poorly designed scroll work. Many were poorly cut but the design flaws were what made them stand out as the work of a beginner. I don't know what your art background is but even accomplished artists must study proper gun scroll to avoid the "beginner" look. Most of us who are seasoned engravers draw endlessly in our spare moments to improve our design abilities. Everyone who has come to me wanting to learn gun engraving was focused on tooling and cutting techniques. Before I will discuss tools and cutting I require that they present acceptable examples of properly drawn scroll. The very best source of design study for gun engraving is the books by Ron Smith available through FEGA. If I had only had those books available when I started. What a difference they would have made! Even though I have been engraving for over 30 years I still do drawing exercises based on the Smith books.
Good luck,
Roger Bleile
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