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March 20, 2009
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Thought that you all might like seeing this process.
Model 1892 / Model 61 Collector, Research, Valuation
June 12, 2013
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twobit said
Thought that you all might like seeing this process.
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1630030812076643/?s=single_unit&__cft__%5B0%5D=AZYXRuW_DDHc5f-FsLmcPiK__osyA_Pop3CNX54FsA3AQAoqV7SvvCLTP8tRemmufvbfiYZ-9HobcX6GhNm5hPjkzjHOq0K5wQ24VkxJZ3jEUeDm6YEvi_RHb67ZQq1klDTI_zaV91LAN9FNUx9fwJdLPDE51phRJMsQA4RM47GsiL3GZ18jH1M5t8uI1_gUORFEStHcSJvQR8SyCBCT6ylmYplP9rHpXJajFPQSb661cw&__tn__=H-R
How easily can real engraving be determined from laser engraving? Cool video
April 30, 2023
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“Most” of the laser engraving is more superficial and doesn’t have the depth of hand cutting…
December 9, 2002
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A friend of mine does it as a side job, and it is exactly what you guy’s are saying it is. Nice in it’s own way, but not as deep as the real thing! A very neat thing to watch as far as the video, as he sends me stuff periodically. It reminds me of the Commemorative Market and the fancy aftermarket stuff we can buy online. It’s nice for what it is! IMO!
I’d rather have an Originally hand engraved piece as many others would also, but the difference is more than just the engraving, as an Original, can leave a nice hole in the pocket book, but then look what you’ve got. The Later will appreciate much more than the Laser stuff! IMHO!
Thanks for sharing!
Tony
January 20, 2023
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I’d guess the depth of the cut is a function of the power of the laser beam, which is a function of the cost of the machine. There are industrial lasers that can cut one-inch cold rolled sheet steel.
The láser engraving patterns I’ve seen replicate the relatively large German-American-style scroll, which really needs to be done in higher relief to resemble a hand engraver’s work.
Because the fine rose-and-vine English scroll work is not so deeply cut but is very profuse, I’ve wondered what a pattern of it would look like done by programmed láser. The patterns are so dense, the programming might require showing an AI engine the pattern and asking for a machine code translation.
One purpose of English scrollwork is to hold oil but also to conceal loss of finish. The more it’s handled, the better it looks.
Conversely, the “photographic” or “3 dimensional” portraits created by a series of dots punched into the steel — Bulino –a very expensive engraving style popularized by the Italians but now seen on some London Best exhibition guns — will not tolerate much field use of the gun without fading away. A classic example of extreme decoration that destroys the utility of the object, like 32 LPI checkering.
I adhere to the late Jack O’Connor’s opinion of gun engraving: “If it is not very well done, it is ghastly.” As for classic Winchesters specifically, i like to see replicas of the old factory patterns, preferably by an expert hand, but better by well-executed láser production than by an unskilled 
human.
The combination of hand engraving and acid etching seen on the old Olin-Kodensha 101 shotguns I have aiways thought was pretty nicely done but more extensive than I prefer. FN hit the mark for me with the little engraved fluorishes their factory engravers put on field grade Superposed and Auto-5 shotguns.
Taste is indisputable, although the lack of it can still make others wince.
- Bill
WACA # 65205; life member, NRA; member, TGCA; member, TSRA; amateur preservationist
"I have seen wicked men and fools, a great many of both, and I believe they both get paid in the end, but the fools first." -- David Balfour, narrator and protagonist of the novel, Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson.
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