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Fine Embellishment Everything from hand engraving and scrimshaw to filework and carving. The fine art end of the knifemaker's craft. |
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#1
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Background Removal Around Inlay...
Alright, folks!.....
I've been seeing some phenomenal work here. You should be millionaires! As I mentioned in my last post, I began engraving on guns and knives, but have done primarily jewelry in my professional career. I just took a precious metal inlay seminar about a month ago, and am working on my inlay. How in the HECK are you guys relieving background all the way up to your little whisps of gold wire without them coming out? It is as simple as just doing it? Somehow I don't think so. Any help is appreciated. You guys must be aliens! 0] 0] 0] Reid Smith Charlotte, NC |
#2
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Reid
Hope this helps....I hope Andy will jump in here and help out. Jim Below is Andys' thread http://www.knifenetwork.com/forum/sh...ad.php?t=30303 Last edited by Jim Small; 08-28-2005 at 11:43 PM. |
#3
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Reid,
There's several ways you can do this. One way is to relieve as close as you can to the inlay, while leaving enough metal to act as a bezel. Another way is to set the gold or other inlay material at a lower level than what is removed from the background. In either case, the bezel is there. The mechanical connection is at the bottom of your inlay channel. The bezel protects the gold from wear. Tim __________________ [B][URL="http://www.adlamengraving.com"]http://www.adlamengraving.com[/URL][/B] |
#4
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Just to add my 2 cents since Jim drug me into this. I tend to do this a little differantly perhaps. Here is a sketch of my usual method. I like to square up my inlay channel with a flat graver before I under cut. I think it would be less prone to width irregularties should you cut into it a bit while cleaning up. When I hammer gold in I really like to go hard to make sure it is not coming back out. I tend to mash the edges of the channel a bit. Therefore I will recut the lines around the inlays to sharpen them back up and eliminate the appearance of a bezel. There is still somewhat of a white edge but to the naked eye it is generally not visible.
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#5
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Andy
I do it the same as you all.....we are all together on this..... You and Tim just draw and say it better than me. Have you ever....polished a carbide dental bur to a point and used it to burnish the sides of your relief engraving? Works very well and helps give you nice straight sides. Thanks Andy and Tim I don't know what I would do with out you. Jim |
#6
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For straight line inlay don't you guys find it easier to use a knife like graver very thin for the undercuts? The high speed hand piece seems to work great going around a curve. It just seems to take to long using a dental bur for a staight line.
Jim I'm curious what the bur looks like for larger areas of background removal. Is it sharpened like a screw driver and do you use it at an angle or staight down like a milling tool? It seems to take me longer useing a bur instead of a graver, I can seem to get it flater much quicker with flats. Probably cause I don't know how to use the burs. Mike Cirelli |
#7
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Mike
I normally hog out the big open area with a tapered carbide dental lab bur. Then I use the, as you described it, screw driver shaped bur. For the fine work and tight places I use a carbide bur which is sharpened to a very fine point and then flattened at about 5 degrees more or less on four sides. This design I find cuts fast and fine...I use this at a slight angle....really works well in the tight areas between leaves and vines. When Tim Adlam was down before the Atlanta show I showed him how this tool worked. I think he will admitt that it really did the job. I have sharpened them on one, two, and three sides....but the four sided one works for me. Using these burs allows you to cut deep relief which allows you to sculpt the leaf and vine work or just leave it as deep relief. Grinding one of these burrs at a steep angle on the 260 grit diamond stone gives a rough enough surface to allow you to actually sand the edges of your relief work.....give a good smooth finish. I recently tried to relieve some gold and I have to tell you these burrs don't work as well on gold as they do on steel. I think it would be a little easier if my air tool would go a little slower....gotta work on that. Jim |
#8
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I'm basically using the same technique that Jim and Andy describe.
After I'm done using the burs, I freshen up the edge of the "bezel" next to the gold with a square graver. I cut pretty close, and like Andy says, you can barely see it with the hairy eyeball. Your background coloration pretty much makes the rest disappear. The bur removal requires a light, easy touch. Be mindful of the rotation of the handpiece as you releive material. You want the bur to cut on the clockwise rotation just as a milling cutter does. I've never had an "incident" when using the burs. The key is to go easy, take a break if your grip starts to tire, and don't try to take out all of the background in one shot. The photo below shows a knife done using the bur technique Jim described. Even within the overlapping stems, I had no problem. In areas where I felt that I needed to exercise caution, I went in and removed the material with a graver. Tim __________________ [B][URL="http://www.adlamengraving.com"]http://www.adlamengraving.com[/URL][/B] |
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