Master Engraver

I began the knowledgeable study of engraving in the early 1980's. In 1981 the opportunity to take a series of 60-hour evening Adult Education classes at a local Technical School presented itself. Master Engraver Emma Achleithner taught the program. Emma had her training at the Ferlach School of Gunsmithing and Engraving in Ferlach, Austria. The training was in the use of the traditional hand tools and methods. The hammer and chisel are the method of choice for scrollwork. The burin or push engraving was taught as the most realistic method of producing the game scenes. I obtained my Federal Firearms License and joined the Firearms Engravers Guild of America (FEGA) in 1984. In 1989 my work was accepted into the Firearms Engravers Guild of America at a status of Professional Engraver. This accomplishment is awarded by a peer review of an engravers work. As of January 2009 FEGA's Professional status was changed and upgraded to FEGA Master Engraver. As an active member of FEGA I have served as a board member of the guild for ten years off and on over a twelve-year period.

Through the years I have become known as an engraver of miniature firearms and specialized in miniature work. Engraving the miniature guns forced me to seriously study the work of the masters of the nineteenth century. That study revealed how the engravers of yester-year developed the styles they used, and how to put a design and pattern together. Over the years I have made it a point of attending an engraving class of a week or more at least every couple years. Engraving as a craft, where you execute set patterns, may not require continuing education. Engraving as an art, however, is advancing at a rate inconceivable at the time I started in this field of endeavor. Therefore, such continued study is nearly essential. Although I have engraved a lot of great miniature arms, they are not the only items I engrave. Today I engrave for the individual collector looking for the personalized knife, custom firearm or extra-ordinary handgun as well as distinctive miniature arms. Because of the classic style training under Emma Achleithner as well as the continued study under Americas best and contemporary European Masters, I am able to execute an engraving in a variety of styles. The photo gallery will display my treatment of American, German, and English style scroll. In addition antique scrolls, bulino scene engraving, sculpted styles of work (both scroll and three-dimensional scenes), and all manner of precious metal inlay are at my disposal to create your functional work of art.

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