I'm thinking about trying some wire inlay soon, and I wondered how many folks made their own chisels. It looks like a simple tool to make, but I'm not sure I can get the thickness exactly right. Any tips on doing this? Or is it better just to buy a set?

Josh Blount

Josh, although I have not made chisels for wire inlay, I have made them for scrimshaw and engraving out of O-1 drill rod. Works just fine.

Josh,

You can make your own out of old bandsaw blade or even hacksaw blades.

Wayne Raley

Thanks for the quick responses. Does anybody know how the thickness of the chisel is gauged? As I understand it, if it's too thick the wire won't remain in the groove, and if it's too tight it can't be worked. Any thoughts? I'll probably make my chisels and practice on a scrape piece first.
Don, do you do engraving on your knives? I'd like to try that eventually as well. One thing at a time . . .

Josh

Josh, the size of the chisel will be dependant on the diameter/gauge of wire you intend to use.

Regarding engraving, I guess the answer is not yet. I have done some scrimshaw, however.

Josh

What would you like to kow about engraving? I have been hand engraving for several years now on firearms and recently on knives that I have made.

Brian

Hey Brian,
Just checked back today and saw your response. One of my other hobbies is building longrifles, which I haven't done for very long, and I've always admired the engravings done in that craft. I also saw some beautiful examples of engraving on tomahawks at the gunsmithing shop in colonial Williamsburg. Ever since then I've wanted to give it a shot, but I've never gotten around to it. Do you know of any books or videos that would be good for somebody just learning engraving? I don't even know enough about it to begin asking my questions - at least not yet! Thanks!

Josh
www.blountknives.com (http://www.blountknives.com)

Josh

"The Art of Engraving" by James Meek is a good book. I think Brownells still carries this book. Niel Hartliep's "The Basics of Firearms Engraving" is another good book. The NRA published this book.

I have a post on ED Caffrey's Workshop forum that has a link to pictures of my first damascus knife. I engraved the guard on this knife. It is titled 'First Damascus Knife'. You will have to go down a several posts in this thread because it took me a couple tries to get the link to work.

Engraving is very time consuming and requires a lot of patients. Before you invest a lot of money in tools and equipment, I would suggest you try it on a small scale to see if you like it. It is also very rewarding and would be a great addition to your skills. You can buy preshaped gravers, but they are not cheap. I shape most of my gravers from 1/8" lathe bits and buy or make wood handles to put on them.
It is best to start out small and add what will fit your needs as you go. There are a lot of things on the market for engravers that you would probably have no use for.

I could go on forever(and then you would have the book that you wanted) but I will stop here. If I can help you any more, let me know on this thread, or start another.

Brian

Hey Brian
The knife looks good, and the engraving really does add a nice touch. I'll have to get that book soon. I'll probably be back with lots of questions when I get started. Thanks!

Josh

Josh:
This may be totally out of the question for you, but Trinidad State Junior College (in Colorado) offers a two week beginning engraving class this summer that would really give you a solid foundation in engraving. I've been thinking about taking this class myself for about two years now, but somehow just never seem to fit it into my schedule. This class is offered as part of their Gunsmithing program summer class schedule. I've included a link that you can follow if you're interested:
www.tsjc.cccoes.edu/gunsmithing/NRAschools/2002%20NRA%20preliminary%20schedule.doc (http://www.tsjc.cccoes.edu/gunsmithing/NRAschools/2002%20NRA%20preliminary%20schedule.doc)

If the link isn't active, just cut and paste it into your browser. There is contact data at the bottom if you're interested. I have taken a summer class there and can highly recommend it.

If travel to Colorado is out of the question, perhaps there is another NRA sponsored program that is closer to you.