Beginners First Engraved Gun

[Jon C. Dake]

As part of the requirements for my engraving class we are required to engrave a gun. I have a little Model 37 Winchester, 20 Gauge that I have had since I was about 10 and that my brother had for about 10 years before that, making the gun about 60 years old, but still in good condition. This is the “fortunate” subject of my first gun engraving effort.

The requirements for the engraving project were 1) Background removal on all scroll areas, 2) Inlaid borders and 3) At least one inlaid animal or bird. No requirement for deep relief, but I thought it would look good with the eagle (yes, that is an eagle and it really does look better than the picture shows - it actually looks like one).

I know that there is a lot to be desired in regard to the engraving that I did on this gun, but then again I am no Steve Lindsay and doubt that I ever will be (I don’t think that I have that many years left, even if I did have his talent, which I don’t) and I have only been doing this for about 14 months. I guess we all work within our own limitations and skill levels (excuses, excuses).

When I cut the scrolls they actually looked pretty good, all nice and round with no flats or elbows. I did manage to flatten out a couple of them a bit with the background removal and damage some of the leaves. This is an area that I will be working on with my practice plates. I also obviously need some significant amount of work on my gold inlaid lines. I know what I did wrong there and do not ever intend to repeat my mistakes.

Over all, I was generally pleased with the results, again given my skill set, but I know that there is a vast amount of room for improvement. I don’t think that I totally ruined the gun and I at least impressed my family. Maybe when my grandson gets old enough for me to give this to him in about 8 years, I will just go hide it and cut him another one. Hopefully, I will be a lot better by then.

Your constructive criticism and critique and any suggestions for improvement will be greatly appreciated.

http://members.cox.net/jondake/First_Engraved_Gun.htm

[jacques herbst]

"I am no Steve Lindsay" dont try to be.you can learn a lot from him and others.how long have you been doing engraving,what tool do you use?.it makes me think of much older engravings.i am a bigginner and would not even try something that complex,i have it all to learn and cant wait.

[Peter]

From your description of the project it sounded like it was quite ambitious but judging from the pics...you pulled it off quite well. I have been engraving a bit less time than you have and I would not even attempt that project.

Great job Jon.

Peter

[jdveritas]

gorgeous... I like the weight of your designe lines.... Also the negative space looks good... enough of it there that you can tell whats going on even from a distance, but not too much. As far as constructive criticism goes.. you and I seem to have the same problem, I am focusing in my work to try and cut cleaner... back cutting isint just for lettering ya know. please show next project... is allways a treat to see this kind of work. Jim

[Andrew Biggs]

Hi Jon.

Well done. You seem to know what's wrong with it and pleased with what's right. I'm sure you'll only get better as time goes on. Good on you for giving it a go. We all have to start somewhere and I hope it's the first gun of many :D

What engraving class are you referring to?

Cheers
Andrew Biggs

[Jon C. Dake]

Thanks guys for the words of encouragement and comments. Actually, if this had not been a class requirement I seriously doubt that I would have undertaken this little project just yet. I have to say that I learned an awful lot during the project and improved my skill set a good bit, though there is still plenty of improvement to be made. I just have to keep telling myself that Rome wasn't built in a day. I can certainly do a lot more now than I could a year ago and probably couldn't and/or wouldn't have begun this project even three months ago.

Jacques: I have been at this for 14 months and, of course, use a Lindsay Air Graver (is there any other brand?).

Andrew: You are right, I can see some of my own mistakes and deficiencies. I am probably my own worst critic. I take an engraving class at Yavapai Community College in Prescott, Arizona (one of only about three public schools that provide instruction in engraving in the US). It is only about 1 1/2 hours drive from my home. It consists of three semester classes and we go at a pretty moderate pace. This is my last semester.