Wire inlay guide ( lots of images )

[Singeblister]

Hi when doing this project i thought i would take a few pics and share it with you guys.

First cut out your shape , If you want to use contrasting woods as i have done,

shape the new piece to fit tightly small gaps don't really matter though (smaller than the wire your using )
Next cut a bevel on the face of the scale where your wire will sit , you can use a dremel with a burr , or be really careful on a sanding disk , or just do it by hand , your aiming for a -v- where the two pieces meet.

Use Epoxy to join the two pieces together and let it set to tacky. You don't want to much epoxy to come up into the V use it sparingly, Next roughly shape your silver wire to the curves you need and with a dab of super glue clamp it in place on the side, let this set.

Once its secure shape your wire using a burnishing tool , ease the wire into the bevel you cut, then ease it back out , aplie super glue along the wire and quickly push it back in puting preasure onto the wire with your burnishing too , or polished nail whatever you have.

Now carry on all the way round in sections until you get to the other edge, make sure your wire is tight all the way round , then ease it over the edge and down the side. clamp it and leave it a few mins.

Set in place , the tacky epoxie will also help to secure the wire in place, here is mine waiting for epoxie to cure solid. At this point make sure your scale is perfectly flat.

Next set to work with your wet and dry as usual , working down to 1000 or 1200 grit whichever is your preferance. carefull on the edges where the wire goes down to the sides , i sanded though the wire on once edge but only very minor , so i left it.

Damped down to raise the grain for final sanding 1000 grit

Now the finnished article , polished and finnished off , i used the shafts off old dremel grinding wheels for the pins, did some filework on the spine and polished everything up.
Woods used are Rose wood and Purple heart wire is sterling silver.

Hope you like the knife and have a go at silver wire inlay yourself soon.
John

[Lord Farquhar]

Cool!
great photos.

[ZDP-189]

Very good. You know you can buy square 925 wire and also pewter sheet that can be cut into thin strips for inlaying side-on?

[Singeblister]

Originally Posted by ZDP-189

Very good. You know you can buy square 925 wire and also pewter sheet that can be cut into thin strips for inlaying side-on?

Yes this was a case of ahh i have some silver wire here , what can i do with it
Where do you get your silver and pewter from ?

[ANDYLASER]

http://www.cooksongold.com/

[Edd-UK]

thats great. looks top notch.

[Stew]

One for the front page perhaps?

[Habaki]

That is nice work and a very good tutorial. Well done!!.
Regards,
Simon.

[Bogflogger]

Thats really good! Both the knife and the tutorial.

[Otto]

Question. Could you explaine some methods for shaping the two pieces of wood so they fit tightly?.

[Singeblister]

Originally Posted by Otto

Question. Could you explaine some methods for shaping the two pieces of wood so they fit tightly?.

Draw your shape onto one piece , cut that out, i used a piercing saw ( jewelers saw) quite hard to keep the cut at 90 so practice on scrap,
the piece you cut out is now your template for your contrasting wood, draw round it and cut it out leaving a couple of mm to your line
Now you can use files or dremel to remove the wood straight to your line , test fitting it as you go , you can rub a pencil inside the cut on the first bit , so when u introduce the second bit it leaves graphite where you need to remove wood , its just a case of take a bit off try it and keep going till its right,
the main rule here is , you can always take more off , but you cant add it on , so take time
Hope this helps
John

[Otto]

NIce tnanx that helps a lot! :-)

[ZDP-189]

Originally Posted by Singeblister

Yes this was a case of ahh i have some silver wire here , what can i do with it
Where do you get your silver and pewter from ?

I get my silver from a local stockist. My pewter comes in bags of grains. If I need it in sheets, I have it cast and put through a press.

Sorry I can't help, but I am sure a quick google will yield results.

[Bogflogger]

A tip for using a pierceing saw. when you fit the blade, spring the frame, so that it will tension the blade when you release it. the blade should be able to be plucked like a guitar string. Blades also stretch when in use, so adjust the tension frequently.

[PS_Bond]

Finer piercing saw blades need less tension than coarser ones too...
I have taken to storing the blades in short lengths of copper pipe, one end cap soldered on; the other end is push fit. Each labelled with the cut (currently only permanent marker, but I can see they might end up engraved instead); each blade returned to the tube after use.