you got the right attitude for sure. there's lotsa things that are very difficult to do transfers on. the colt recoil shield is a good example. transfers can be useful on some things such as a cylinder. either way, drawing skill is probably more important than total graver control. your design...
if tha t's a worry to you give it a couple coats of clear lacquer. the sheet metal will alter the geometry of the lindsay but the change will be miniscule. .5" minus say .020" will be very slight. \
grs doen't matter. the lindsay simply requires .5" to perfectly match the templates.the grs simply moves up & down vertically on the post and therefore maintains your chosen angle. .j. miller got it right
if, as you say you are a beginner, crawl, stumble, walk, then run. your expertise in layout/'transfer is a big plus. you are cheating yerself by not learning the basic cuts before attempting the more complex. without good graver control and sharpening techniques you'll likely be creating a lot...
roger bleile may have a clue. if not, try to see if there's some sort of engravers forum in japan. you never know what info may come to light. in my years i've seen 3 war era guns done in japan. yours looks to be a bit better than the ones i got a look at.
you could try a 50 degree face. that makes the point a bit more resistant to breakage. some folks dub the point. they say that can make a difference. your letters look nice to me. esp with the background treatment.
one valuable feature offered by the grs people is great customer support. that combined with very good products gives me peace of mind. order from elcheapo.com you can forget customer service.
that you are a cpa doesn't always mean you're a good businessman. you must approach engraving as a full-fledged business. how good are you at marketing yerself? what markets will you serve? how good will you become? to simply jump ship and dive into engraving-- you'll likely starve. nobody will...