- Are you still engraving?
- I'm pretty much retired but looking forward to completing a few guns that are partially engraved or ready for engraving.
- What are you working on?
- My experimental airplane.
- Why don't you update your website?
- When I complete an engraving project, I usually update the website. It takes a long time to finish a museum quality gun, complete with case and accessories. Most Collectors want to unveil their newly engraved guns at their favorite gun show or in a publication and don't want any pictures of their new gun published before then, so I don't post anything on a gun that's been commissioned unless it's ok with the Collector. Meanwhile the website gets a little stale.
- Speaking of cases, why don't you use someone else's cases?
- I'd love to be able to ship a finished gun to Marvin Huey or another case maker but the cost of insurance for shipping a gun to a casemaker and back is prohibitive. The reason I don't have a case made before engraving is world class case makers like Marvin fit the gun perfectly and any raised inlays or changes to the contour of the gun need to be considered. I like to have the option of changing things and if the gun is already fit I won't be able to do that.
- Do you use power gravers like the Lindsay Air Gravers?
- No, I use old school tools - hammers, chisels and gravers. All my chisels and gravers are hand ground from M2 high speed steel and I make and heat treat my own punches and machine my own fixtures. The only engraving tools that I purchase are liners (multiple line tools used mostly for shading).
- Do you do repairs or correct damaged, worn, rusted or compromised engraving?
- No.
- What if it's yours, a piece you did years ago?
- No thank you.
- I have a great idea for an engraving project. Are you accepting any new commissions?
- Sorry but no.
- You've been doing this forever - why don't you know how long it will take?
- Because you want something custom, something that will stand out, that you'll be proud to hand down to future generations. A custom anything is equivalent to a prototype - something new - an unknown with numerous mechanical, design and finishing challenges that has to be very carefully conceived, planned and executed. In the course of creating your prototype there will be unforeseen problems that will take an unknown amount of time to solve.
- Do you go to gun shows?
- Not usually.
- Why not?
- I'm afraid I'll buy something.
- Would you consider teaching me to engrave?
- No but there are numerous engraving schools and classes available to you. An internet search will find some names you'll probably recognize.
- Did you engrave the Vampire Killer Colt Detective Special that's now on display at the NRA Museum in Fairfax VA?
- Yes.
- What about copies of that gun that were done by other engravers? Did you have anything to do with those?
- No.
- I have one of your engraved guns. Can you tell me how much it's worth?
- Sorry but No. The market changes and I don't keep close track of it. Occassionally one of my guns gets sold at auction and that's the best way to assess it's worth.
- Would you write a letter of authentication for a gun you've engraved?
- Yes, if I have records that indicate I engraved it, or I remember engraving it, I would be happy to write a letter to document the engraving. These letters take a lot of time to research and compose. They're as extensive as possible and sometimes there's a lot of information that needs to be included to tell the whole story about a gun. It helps if you can send good pictures of the gun including the case and any accessories. Authentication letters are $350.
Here are a few examples of authentication letters.