Hand Craftsmanship in the Digital Age

Episode 13: Abe Chaber and the pursuit of "It's beautiful"


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Abe Chaber is a master gunsmith of best grade shotguns, having apprenticed under Carl Kruger. His work is beyond superlative, and recognized worldwide as among the very best.

The challenges of gunsmithing, using only hand tools and traditional materials to maintain 18th and 19th-century authenticity in his repairs and reproductions, cannot be underestimated. Abe works with different steels, iron, copper, gold and silver, wood and horn, leather and many other materials each with their own properties, using only files, saws, chisels and hammers.

What has kept Abe at his bench for over 50 years? How does he "just do it"? And what two words from his teacher encapsulate everything he works for?


It's a long interview, over 2 hours. Listening in installments is permitted.

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Hand Craftsmanship in the Digital AgeBy Strother Purdy