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Old 06-11-2007, 08:03 AM
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MikeDubber MikeDubber is offline
Platinum
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Evansville, Indiana
Posts: 510
Default Re: An Engraving Puzzle

Jon:

24 Ga is a bit thick for some applications, but I wanted this inlay to be "raised" and I wanted to do some sculpting prior to adding detail and bulino .

As for the Silver; from the photos you'll see that I only inlaid one Silver cavity at one time, i.e., I left separate areas confined to solid edges. That way the silver does not tend to "spread" beyond it's intended fill area. When the subsequent gold areas are mined out and inlaid they fill that new open area to meet with the hardened silver. The metals don't really mix, but the gold spreads to fill all the voids and I've never had any problems develop throug the bluing/finishing process.

Inlaying Silver: as long as you've provided a good cavity, raised good hooks and annealed the silver, it inlays as easily as gold (although it does work hardend as it's set.) Be aware that you should use "fine" silver, not Sterling silver. I also work with platinum inlays, both solid and mixed, but I use pure platinum, not irratiated (jelwery grade alloy) platinum.
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