Not Just Firearms Engraving
Over the years, I’ve engraved a number of items besides the firearms and knives which I usually do. What I’m going to share this time is a few I’ve engraved and given as gifts or done for myself.
The first I’ve had for many years and never got around to doing anything with it. Back in the late 70s and early 80s, I worked for the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad line in its Middle Division. My home terminal was Emporia, Kansas. I never gained enough seniority to work a regular turn, which is a group of two brakemen and one conductor, on the main line, only filling in for that group off the “extra board”. Once one reached the top ten places on the extras board, that individual would be subject to call to duty on the AMTRAC trains as a baggage man or mailman. As such, he would need an AMTRAC uniform. The last summer I worked for AT&SF I did get into the top ten for several days, at least. Before I reached that lofty position, I was informed by the company to go to a clothing store that furnished said uniforms and order one.
I never actually was called to AMTRAC duty, so I had a rather useless dress uniform I could never use once I quit my railroad position. I was able to trade it to a friend who dealt in odd items for a FRISCO RR line brass padlock – one which had been used on switches and possibly rail line phone boxes (anyway that’s what we on the AT&SF used them for). A major problem was it didn’t have a key! Oh, well. In a drawer it went for all these years.
Enter the Internet. Last year, I did an Internet search and found a fellow who dealt in railroad locks and keys. After one attempt to buy the correct key failed, I did find success with him and now had both pieces. I’d thought about engraving the lock for years, so now was my chance. Off to the engraving bench and you can see the results. One of these days, I should buy or build a seamen’s or pirate type chest where it might not exactly be the right lock, but still would look good and be functional again.
Next up and included in photos is a common and simple one – a brass swivel snap - another item I’ve used since railroad days. Many of us used one of these to carry a key ring with our switch lock key in addition to various car, house, weigh car (caboose) keys, etc. This was snapped to a jeans belt loop then, often, tucked into a pocket for further security. I got in the habit of carrying a spare set of keys this way (and I still do) in case I somehow lost my primary set during daily railroad work hanging onto the side of boxcars. I can’t count the times over the years that has saved me from calling a locksmith. Also, I've used them as gifts for use on a favorite dog leash.
Over the years I’ve used a money clip to carry my cash reserve when I go to gun shows, events, etc. where I might need more money than I care to put in my wallet. By the time I get a couple credit cards, driver’s license, and a few dollars, my wallet is large enough to sit on without putting a wad of extra cash in it. My choice is to use a small knife with a pocket clip on it so I have a cutting edge with me at all times. The one I engraved years ago and usually carry (except when traveling by air of course) is a Spyderco CoPilot, which unfortunately is no longer made. My sales rep, who is also a knife maker, and I are exploring possibilities of manufacturing our own knife/moneyclip so that we can offer them for sale from the website. Stay tuned on this one. I have, also, used both inexpensive stainless and nickel silver ones for giveaways as a quick gift. They aren’t really of the quality that I would sell, but I’ve given them with a cash tip to guides and PHs as something just a little extra. Money clips are, also, a good place to keep rathole money separated from the rest my cash.
When we first moved to Alaska in 1991, I displayed engraving at gun shows to attract business. During the first several years I was approached by a woodworker who asked if I’d ever engraved a hand wood plane. After informing him that I hadn’t, he explained he knew of some hand planes available made of brass or bronze. Other than discussing the idea several times, we never went further.
Fast forwarding at least twenty-five years, I thought about it again. One of my engraving clients is a very talented gunsmith, who does guild quality wood and metal work on his firearm projects. He, also, makes and plays wooden flutes for fun. I mentioned the brass plane idea to him last year and shortly ended up with three small sized bronze wood planes. I engraved one for him and two for me. They are so beautifully made that he cut a wood curl using one which measured a thousandth of an inch thick!
I spent a number of hours engraving mine, one with my own scroll, the other with English scroll and a rose bouquet. I think you’ll agree that as long as these little pieces exist, someone will treasure their beauty while using them.
The last item is one my father built as a young machinist in Wichita, Kansas during the first days of WWII. I remember playing with it as a very young boy on the family farm (why it was never lost as such small items often are, I’ll never know). It was a stubby screwdriver that he built at that time. I assume it was made to be carried in a clothing pocket or placed handily for some use on a lathe, which he operated doing production work. Its handle was built of aluminum. The bit was a regular length screwdriver shortened with splines rolled into it and then driven into a hole in the handle’s end.
I decided that I would modify it for everyday use in taking 1911 pistols apart for engraving. I drilled a small hole in the opposite end of the bit and used a punch to drive it out. I, then, replaced the bit with a modern magnetized screwdriver bit extension, so I could now use various different bits. After filling the hole I’d drilled with an aluminum plug, I engraved the end to add my own touch. Now it sits on my layout desk where I use it every time I take a 1911 apart. It connects me to my father and the past.
I have a number of other items I’ll show you in the future. Personal item tags, bookmarks, flasks, and, yes, even a specialized NASCAR crescent wrench!