Question: Inlays, gold and other metals...

Roger Keagle

Elite Cafe Member
Joined
Mar 12, 2009
Messages
110
Location
Korumburra Australia
I know this may be a dumb question, but hey, this is me learning here....

What do I do when I want to taper off an inlay to nothing....see you guys doing it, but have not found any one telling how it is done...closest I got was a bout some dog hair that needed a similar treatment.

Also, fine silver and aluminum are good to inlay as well I would guess...

Say a pic of a butterfly done with purple gold and silver or aluminum that was fantastic....yet everything I can read about purple gold is that is it brittle....so....?

In advance, thanks for helping an old man learn...you know the drill...old dog...new tricks...:)
 

Kevin P.

~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Joined
Feb 28, 2008
Messages
1,256
Location
Nambe, NM
"to taper off an inlay to nothing" needs a little more explanation, at least for me.
I can tell you one thing for sure about aluminum and gold. This is from a friend who is an expert when it comes to metallurgy. Aluminum added to gold will produce purple, but it is so brittle that it's uses are very limited. One use would be to use it in the same way as a stone: i.e. set it as you would a stone but don't try to work it as you would other golds.
HTH
Kevin P.
 

KCSteve

~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Joined
Jun 19, 2007
Messages
2,882
Location
Kansas City, MO
Roger

As far as I know you taper off an inlay by, well... tapering it.

In a class I took from Lee Griffiths we practiced varying inlays.

With a sharp knife or small scissors you can cut a wire to fit the area you need to fill - we did it under the scope, looking at the cavity and the wire and fiddling until it was close enough to make it work.

You can also use smaller wires to build up an area so you could handle a taper by stopping your 'normal' wire at the start of the taper (leaving the end not set down) and then building up the tapered area using wire (possibly drawn down to) the size of the end of the taper. You'd still probably have to taper the end of some or all of the wires in the tapered section but that's not too hard - just cut on a bias to get the tapered end and start from there - the untapered end is the easy one.
 

Kevin P.

~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Joined
Feb 28, 2008
Messages
1,256
Location
Nambe, NM
Thanks Steve, you answered the question I had of Roger Keagle. There are thousands of details.
Kevin P.
 

Kevin P.

~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Joined
Feb 28, 2008
Messages
1,256
Location
Nambe, NM
After posting I remembered Sam's technique for inlaying gold wire. A perfect solution; but after reading Sam's story of giving out Lynton McKenzie tip my lips are sealed (or whatever the appropriate metaphor).
Also that's why classes are important; those personal interactions. Surprising how things come to mind from way back in '05.
Kevin P.
 

John B.

Lifetime Pledge Member
::::Pledge Member::::
Joined
Nov 9, 2006
Messages
3,950
Location
Los Angeles area, California.
Just a word of warning....don't inlay anything aluminum or mixed with it into anything that is going to be hot blued (black oxide.)
As other have said on the inlay question just taper your cavity line.
You might want to cut the fine end using an ongelette and then a knife graver to maintain a deeper cut at the pointy end.
The pointy end can be undercut with a knife graver or an undercut can be scraped into the walls with a very fine scribe.
It doesn't take much to hold 24K gold in this narrow channel.
Roughing up the sides of the graver creates micro teeth in the channel walls and helps the inlay have something else to grip on to.
Hope this helps.
 

Roger Keagle

Elite Cafe Member
Joined
Mar 12, 2009
Messages
110
Location
Korumburra Australia
Thanks guys...bluing in not a problem as I rairly blue my work and I know purple was a worry in that is was brittle....but sure looks good.

Guess I will just have to try the taper bit on my own...classes are out of the question due to being so remote.

I will be back with more questions after I mess up a bit more....love to mess up...how else do you learn ???

Roger
 
Top