Recommend Engravers

[Cohiba]

Hey All,

Greetings from Oklahoma!!    I looking around for Colt SAA/3rd Gen. engravers.  A person who will strip it to the white or have it done, engrave it, and reblue or renickel it.

I have looked at the work of John Adams Sr. and it looks fantastic..Adams & Adams.

I have also looked at Nutmeg Sports/ Jim Alaimo..but I think Jim outsources his work....maybe he engraves..not sure.

Anyone else...or are these two on the top of the list.


Thanks!!!

[Thumper]

I got a local boy here that's a hell of an engraver, his name is Charlie Starks (internet name, Captchee), his email is "starkscl@msn.com". Tell him "Thumper" recommended you by. Here's a couple of pic's of a Belgian Centaure he did for me.

[Lefty Dude]

Jim Dowling is doing my Cimarron 45 Uberti. He comes to Winter Range each year. He is doing the piece in stages. First I had the grip frame engraved, second the Cylinder. Yesterday I gave him the piece to complete, the barrel & ejector housing. Then the piece will be re-blued and sent back to me.
Jim does excellent work.
My Bond Derringer will be the next engraving project.

[R.T. Rangebum]

I'd like to throw my hat in the ring for Jim Downing as well. He's a damn fine engraver and a damn fine gentleman as well. Jim is a member of the Double M Cowboys NCOWS club and will be a vendor at the NCOWS convention being held in Springfield Mo. March 28th thru the 30th. You could talk with him in person there and it's only a hop skip and a jump for ya coming from Oklahoma. Jim also has a website: http://www.thegunengraver.com/gallery.htm

Rangebum

[River City John]

Mr. Downing!

RCJ

[Capt. John Fitzgerald]

Jim Alaimo makes ivory grips and outsources his engraving work.  Jim ran the Colt Custom Shop for many years and several of the engravers that he uses did engraving work for Colt. 

[Drydock]

ANother vote for Downing!

[Fingers McGee]

ANother vote for Downing!

+1

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Hi,

I have been surfing this thread with all the enthusiasm of a novitiate, hoping SOMEONE would mention cost ... is it something that if one has to ask one can't afford it? *S* Please send me a PM if you don't wish to put it on here ...

[Roscoe Coles]

Do all the checking you can and look very carefully at the quality of the work rather that the price.  My father is a very good hand engraver, working mostly on jewelry and silver trophies (for example, he does the ones for the Pebble Beach golf club).  Sometimes I get him to do a gun for me.  I say this to illustrate that I have seen a lot of good engraving and know the difference between good work and bad.

Good engraving can raise the value of a gun...but bad or even middling engraving can seriously devalue a gun.  I sometimes have to bite my tongue when shown the awful work that passes for engraving on many cowboy guns.  It is very sad to see a quality gun ruined by bad engraving.

I am making no claim as to the quality of the engravers recommended above, just encouraging you to look around enough to tell good engraving from bad before you spend your hard earned money on something that can't be undone. 

[jdpress]

Denise Thirion was an engraver for the Colt Custom Shop and currently has her own company in California. 

She does superb engraving on Colt SAA revolvers and is a world class engraver.

She also has an FFL so firearms can be sent directly to her.

     Denise Thirion Engraving Company
     P.O. Box 408
     Graton, CA  95444

     707-829-1876

Cherry's Fine Guns has two Colt SAA's that she engraved for sale and you can see examples of her engraving at:

http://www.cherrys.com/stokpics/c171_1fel_1.jpg

http://www.cherrys.com/stokpics/c171_2fel_1.jpg

J.D. Press

[c.o.jones]

BILL JOHNS..........CODY WYOMING.     OUTSTANDING WORK.......LOOK UP HIS WEBSITE.

[Professor Marvel]

I got a local boy here that's a hell of an engraver, his name is Charlie Starks (internet name, Captchee), his email is "starkscl@msn.com". Tell him "Thumper" recommended you by. Here's a couple of pic's of a Belgian Centaure he did for me.

Greeting My Good Thumper -

OMG I had no idea that CaptChee was doing that kind of  magnificant work!

yhs
prof marvel

[Buck Stinson]

Mike Gouse, Hamilton, Montana.  (406)363-0254  He's as good as they get and much less expensive than most you'll find.  He is pretty good on his turn-around time, also.

[yahoody]

Over the last 25 years I've had guns done by
Adams, Alaimo/Harper, Thirion, Downing, Schowe, J. C. Randell.  Some of my newest projects are being done by Darrick Smalley in Seattle.

Seen many more over the years.  Some are better than others as investments.  And to me an engraved gun is an investment (none of them are cheap) even though I shoot all of them.

Roscoe's advice bares repeating IMO:
"Good engraving can raise the value of a gun...but bad or even middling engraving can seriously devalue a gun.  I sometimes have to bite my tongue when shown the awful work that passes for engraving on many cowboy guns.  It is very sad to see a quality gun ruined by bad engraving."

When I want something really special done, top to bottom, and the least amount of fret on my part I go with Jim Alaimo.  I like to pinch a penny and Jim seems high $ wise by my standards when you first start looking.  Till you realize he gets it all done at a very high level and to date for me..always under his stated, up front, time line.  At some point I decided he was rather a bargain with all things considered.  Nice ivory as well   Taken some time for me but I'm a loyal customer now.

"I looking around for Colt SAA/3rd Gen. engravers.  A person who will strip it to the white or have it done, engrave it, and reblue or renickel it."

With that kind of project...the recommendation is easy for me, having done it a few times now.  But and it is a mighty BIG BUTT.  I'd look around a LOT and figure out what you want for a pattern.  I like classic Colt stuff from the late 19th Century or turn of the Century.  Which in my mind means Cuno Helfricht (1871 to 1921 for Colt) although there are other Colt engravers that over lap on either side.  He did both 1911s and the SAA in that time frame.  So it is a good mix for me with short SAAs and the 1911.

If it were a 7 1/2 gun I'd go with an earlier/older Nimschke style.

Point is, there are lots of choices and styles to choose from.
A good investment prior to engraving is a copy of R.L. Wilson's "Colt Engraving".  You can find them cheaper than retail, used, via  Amazon. 

More than half the fun is just deciding on how you want your gun done up (where Jim and his engravers excel IMO) and the other half is shooting when your project is finally done

Darrick Smalley Henry..

[Highlander999]

I agree on Jim Alaimo and Nutmeg Sports.  I have three single actions with ivory grips thanks to Jim.  I'd not had him engrave a gun, but I've seen the work he's done on the items for sale at his webpage.  So Very impressive.

[Highlander999]

Has anyone heard of Peter Kretzmann in Prescott AZ? 

Here's his webpage, but apparently he's not there?

http://www.kretzmann.com/index.html

A friend of mine is wanting to get his Colt Engraved and saw a photo of one in GUNS OF THE OLD WEST(NO 15, page 38) in Nimschke style that looked 100 years old. 

Anyway, just wondering.