Thank you Oilburner and Twig for your comments. Twig, to answer your questions; I got into engraving primarily to engrave firearms. I took an engraving course at GRS in Emporia, KS. They are an engraving tool manufacturer who offer all types of classes related to engraving and jewelry. I have been a sign designer and pinstriper since 1979 so I already had a background in decorative arts. That experience really helped me to advance my skills faster than normal in engraving. Engraving is extremely challenging and it takes a lot of patience. Most of my work involves spending hours and hours looking through a stereo microscope, cutting thousands of lines or hammering in perfectly placed punched dot backgrounds. It is definately not an art for everyone. I exclusively use Lindsay engraving tools for my engraving. They are by far the best. There are many schools around which offer engraving courses. If I had it to do over, I would look somewhere other than GRS. I was recently mentioned on the Speed channel for a chopper I engraved which won the Chop-off at the ROT rally. You can see it on the link under Motorcycles in the Engraving section on my website.
Thanks,
Otto
