The home based Artisan Can Still Be Found

 The day of the artisan earning a decent living working a precision craft from the home shop is pretty much gone with the wind. A few holdouts still remain including furniture and cabinet makers, skilled modelers, custom designed quilt and carpet weavers and glass, fine metals and jewelry designers and molders. These folks generally market to a small target group of consumers. Most have built up their clientèle over many years and depend on orders from a loyal base.

For better or worse, in today’s world, the vast majority of home businesses depend on information age technology, mass marketing techniques and intellectual properties. No longer can the meticulous, skilled toymaker compete with Wall-Mart or the stay at home mom seamstress make much profit when stacked- up against JC Penny. This seems rather sad to many who see an attraction in the slower pace and tighter, more personable service such endeavors offered.

Back in Mighty Casey’s day, the village Smitty worked from a forge behind his house. His primary job was to mold, bend, and fit horseshoes for the sizable equine population. Today there are many fewer horses and still fewer blacksmiths. They can be found of course, but not in many neighborhood businesses.

However, there still exists a skilled craft practiced from the home shop that transcends the past, the present and the future and that is the workings of the gunsmith. This precision, highly specialized vocation is still in demand today due to the increasing interest in shooting for sport and the prevalence of gun-ownership among responsible home owners. At the same time, expert gunsmiths are disappearing faster than veterans of the Second World War. So a good gunsmith can do quite well on their own terms if they are good at their practice.

As with many other crafts where the legacy and knowledge was handed down from father to son, or mother to daughter; becoming a master gunsmith takes years of incremental training and practice. But it can be done and if one so desires it can also be profitable from the home shop. It is rarity to find a veteran gunsmith who offers apprenticeships but there are other avenues available to those willing to learn. An able, skilled machinist could perhaps learn enough from an on-line course to enable them to start a home based business. But how far could they progress? A successful gunsmith business depends on reputation and just performing simple repairs will not yield much income. Therefore, if a person really likes the idea of the freedom, prestige, independence, and financial rewards a home-based gunsmith business could offer, they would be well served to attend an accredited gunsmith school.

There are only three schools left in the United States where the entire curriculum is totally devoted to the art of the gunsmith. If a student gets through one of these accredited programs, they would then be prepared to work in a gun-shop under the tutelage of a master gunsmith. From there, depending on aptitude and desire, they could advance and in a period of time, set up a home based business. Of the requisites courses in these schools, several are classes on how to operate a small gunsmith business. This information is indispensable considering that most small businesses fail in the first five years and learning how to run your business can not be understated. A good gunsmith may have an advantage in this regard as the true practitioner possesses esoteric knowledge and skill that cannot be found just anywhere. Gun-owners, sportsmen and women, hobbyist, police officers and target shooters seek out the gunsmith when their firearms need repair or modification. And as mentioned before, there are not that many good ones around.

The premier accredited schools in the United States are:

1. Pennsylvania Gunsmith School, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. pagunsmith

2. Colorado School of Trades, Lakewood Colorado. schooloftrades

Both of these schools have been teaching gunsmiths since the 1940’s and each sports a world renowned reputation.

Posted:Friday, December 19, 2008