Engraving hobby now job

Press, 19 July 1989, Page 9

Engraving hobby now job

By

CULLEN SMITH

David Fare has not let redundancy get him down. Two years ago, he saw the writing on the wall in his job as supervising mouldmaker for Crown Crystal Glass at Hornby. Workers at the factory had been laid off as exports dwindled and futher redundancies were expected. Morale was at its lowest, spurring Mr Fare to make plans for a fresh start. When Crown Crystal closed with the loss of 280 jobs in September, 1987, Mr Fare was asked to stay on for 15 months to help decommission the factory. He used that time to full advantage, taking steps to turn an interesting hobby into a full-time job. Self-employed since May, the Prebbleton en-gineer-toolmaker is finding a ready market for his skills as a specialist gun engraver.

Painstakingly working with hammer and tiny chisels, Mr Fare forms intricate patterns and pictures on magazine plates, trigger guards and barrels, then highlights his artwork with 18-carat-gold plate and wire. His latest work includes fine gold pigs and stags adorning a .243 calibre Mannlicher rifle for a hunter.

This piece took Mr Fare 100 hours, contains $4OO of gold and is valued at about $3200. Mr Fare has lost count of the guns he has engraved as a hobby and now a profession. He says he has completed 15 to 20, some clients returning with other guns. Hired in Britain and brought to New Zealand by Crown Crystal in 1974, Mr Fare worked as a mould engraver for two

years before taking a supervisory role. He began his hobby with small jobs at home making formica name plates. “I felt I didn’t want to lose my touch, so I was

looking for something to keep my hand in. This is what came out of it,” he said. Commissions now come mainly by word of mouth among weapons enthusiasts, but Mr Fare says he is grateful to the earlier

clients who trusted him with their pride and joy. “Although I was doing it virtually for nothing, I was developing all the time. It’s given me the experience I needed to succeed,” he said.