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View Poll Results: Can industrial engraving equal or exceed hand engraving, or is it fundamentally worse
If it's better, it's better. If it's equal, it's equal 4 40.00%
It is always worse 4 40.00%
I don't care whether it's better, equal, or at all 2 20.00%
Voters: 10. You may not vote on this poll

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Old February 5, 2016, 01:14 AM   #1
Sequins
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Back to the Fluter: Industrial Process Engraving

Hello friends,

I'm curious how we all feel about industrial engraving versus personal, hand engraving on our fine revolvers.

If the quality of engraving performed by industrial process ever becomes so perfect as to flawlessly replicate or even exceed hand engraving in visual quality, would you consider it equal or would you consider it inferior even though it was indistinguishable or perhaps only distinguishable by it's superiority? (ie. a perfect synthetic diamond, or laminate grips vs natural grain)

I know this is not currently the case, but I imagine that robots will be able to do this sort of thing sooner or later with 100% perfection... Will hand engraved still have a cachet or will the drastically reduced cost and identical or perhaps even superior "craftsmanship" mean that laser engraving is preferred?

What say you?
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Old February 5, 2016, 01:42 AM   #2
Branko
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We can make a lot of objects industrially nowadays to a very high level of quality, but there's still a market for hand crafted things. They are unique and customized to fit the wishes of the consumer.

Sure, if robots can do it really well and pretty cheaply it's going to be a small market, but there always is one. Recently I ordered a custom made two-revolver presentation case. Sure, there are factory ones, but I want one made just the way I want, with the wood and finish I want, and I can live with the expense.

At some point (it's a 'bit' expensive) I'll probably get a couple of pistols engraved; this again will be a custom job and they will be pretty and unique.
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Old February 5, 2016, 02:10 AM   #3
Bill DeShivs
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As a hand engraver, I was about to say that no machine could create the various depth, different angles of cuts, etc. of hand engraving.


Then, I remembered they have robots that perform complicated surgeries routinely.

Maybe they can, but I doubt the market is big enough for the development of that kind of precision.
Most people can't tell laser engraving from hand engraving, and that's a shame.
To someone that CAN tell the difference, laser engraving is very utilitarian.
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Old February 5, 2016, 09:58 AM   #4
Driftwood Johnson
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Howdy

I have a bit of experience with lasers.

I know I should not go out on a limb like this, but frankly, the premise of this poll is flawed. Laser engraving will simply never achieve the subtle, delicate appearance of hand cut engraving done by a highly skilled engraver.

The laser engraves by melting the surface of the metal at a tiny focused point. The laser beam travels along the surface, either by use of an X,Y table, or the gantry moves, or a combination of the two. As the beam moves, the tiny point of molten metal solidifies behind it, leaving an indentation on the surface. The computer that operates the X,Y tables can be programmed to make many passes, causing intricate designs to emerge. The Z height can even be varied to engrave at multiple depths. But the surface where the unaltered metal meets the lasered design will always have a soft, rolled over appearance because of the nature of melting the metal. It looks good from a distance, but close up you can see that cut engraving meets the surface of the metal with a crisp, sharp transition.

On top of that, the skilled engraver attacks the work from many different angles, adjusting as he goes, so the his strokes always flow with the design. Laser engraving does not do that, and close inspection will reveal it.

Look at the surface of laser engraved checkering on a wooden stock some time. The points are always rounded over because of the way the laser burns the wood, while quality hand cut checkering always has crisp points, because the checkering tools cut the wood, they don't burn it.

Someone will probably say that perhaps someday, all these differences will no longer be noticeable through advanced programming techniques. Maybe so, but I do not expect it to happen any time soon. And if it does, the amount of programming needed will make it more expensive.

Last edited by Driftwood Johnson; February 5, 2016 at 11:59 AM.
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Old February 5, 2016, 10:47 AM   #5
Mike Irwin
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I don't like engraving.
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Old February 5, 2016, 02:50 PM   #6
FITASC
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Machine-made engraving can be very well done. There seem to be three types nowadays:
Totally machine done, no human interaction
Machine done, then chased and finished by hand
Totally hand engraved

Even the hand engraved has two parts:
Hand engraved using power tools, or, the most expensive, hand engraved using only hand tools.
Creative Art, Fracassi and others in Italy do hand engraving on high-end shotguns, many times using what is referred to as Bulino Engraving. (The bulino is actually the pointed tool the use). One such engraving I read about took well over a year and the engraver had to use his bulino to make the dots that make up the art work over 1,000,000 times. These engravings almost have a photographic quality to them.



You won't find that done on a Mossberg, let alone a S&W, or Ruger.
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Old February 5, 2016, 07:14 PM   #7
johnwilliamson062
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It is almost certainly POSSIBLE to program a machine to use a bulino. Over time I could see someone recording the movements of an engraver using some sort of scanner, uploading that data through something like G-code into robotics, and having the robots duplicate the movement of the bulino exactly. Even making adjustments for wear automatically.
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Old February 5, 2016, 09:01 PM   #8
LE-28
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To me fine engraving is like fine art, The craftsmanship from a fine engraver to me is what makes it desirable.

Machine engraving can be mass produced so to me it is not as desirable.
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