Cut Out Ritchey Dropouts

The Ritchey vertical dropouts are extremely nice. But they tempt you to put a cutout into them. As you can see, I have yielded to temptation.

From the front they're flat and cutout-free. But the back has a "sunken" portion that suggests a cutout. A few weeks ago, during my first day in my shop, I started the cutout as follows.

This produced an unsightly excision in the otherwise beautiful Ritchey logo.

This problem was resolved by filling in the engraved portions with brass and filing them smooth. Here is what's left of "Hey."

So I am left with a slightly lighter, nicer looking, and rather unique dropout, which has also taught me some lessons.