The new "Gilded Pearl" technique by Barry Lee Hands

[Barry Lee Hands]

This S.R. Johnson fighter appears in "Blade " this month, the ornament is a new thing I dreamed up recently.
I hope you enjoy it.



All the best,

[Weldon47]

Barry,

Like I stated over on Steve's forum, I always enjoy your wonderful work.....this one is particularly elegant.

WL

[Ron Smith]

Beautiful job Barry!!!....very unique!

Rock on . buddy!

Ron s

[eastslope]

That is a beautiful knife. Wow! Thanks for sharing. Very cool photograph also, although I would have used buffalo's or eagles instead of the canadian maple leaf's; it being around independance day and all. Thanks for giving us a look, Seth

[fegarex]

Really nice Barrry.
I guess I was under the assumption that the MOP would/could chip or flake if you tried to inlay it. Was this an issue? How do you handle the channel to inlay the gold in the MOP? Inquiry minds would like to know.....
Thanks,
Rex

[Barry Lee Hands]

Thanks guys,
Rex, I promised one of my students I wouldn't post the technique online, however I can tell you what it is and how I came up with it.
I call this " Gilded Pearl Technique"
It is an original technique that I learned myself.
It is partly inspired by work I had seen in Japan where gold is combined with pearl and other things, but the style is mine, which I developed in my work in the gun and knife business in the USA.
There are of course, many influences that you can plainly see.
As you know I was trained in the USA as an engraver in the 1970's and 1980's.
I have traveled to many places studying damascene and engraving including Japan, England, Italy, Egypt , China, Thailand, and Indonesia.
This technique is a combination of all I learned before, using special tools made solely for this purpose.

When I first imagined it I was in Japan at this traditional hotel near Sekei city:
http://www.ccn2.aitai.ne.jp/~akane/tanken.html
It was early in the morning,and I was meditating in this little garden.
I had been studying the Damascene in Kobe, and visiting a father and son in Sekei who make and engrave Samurai swords.
There were all these various techniques floating around in my head.
White pearl kept popping into my mind, and the damascene doors from the Ali Hussein Mosque in Cairo, japanese damascene, arabesque leaves, All these differing images were disturbing my meditations.
Suddenly in my mind the gold appeared in the pearl, and the tools, special tools, for gilding the pearl appeared before me like they were floating in the air, like a vision.
When I arrived home weeks later, I had forgotten all about it.
Steve Lindsay soon called and asked if I would be interested in this knife job for a client of his, I said yes, and he sent me the knife.
When it arrived a few days later, I opened the package.
It had the same white pearl I had imagined.
The hair stood up on the back of my neck as everything came back to me.
I made the tools and went to work.



That was about two years ago.
Thanks again.
All the best,

[fegarex]

Sure...
Keep us in the dark...

What about the "risk factor" doing the MOP? I would think that no matter what you did or how careful you were, there might be a risk of chipping/flaking. I don't know much about the material however. Are there different grades or do you just hope and pray?

[Barry Lee Hands]

Yes, hehe, I have kept this in the dark. . . .
I did this quite a while ago, I would not even have released the photo if Steve Lindsay had not asked me to, and since he referred the work to me, I agreed. Now that its in Blade and the Lindsay Forum I thought I should share it here also.
The very light touch of the Lindsay handpiece makes it a lot easier to accomplish, I did all the airwork with a Palm control, or Artisan.

As to the MOP:
It is very easy to chip, and crack, and break.
The best is white and yellow, the black lip is more difficult.
It is also the most time consuming thing I have done, the pricing reflects it.
It needs to be done perfectly, and the first time.

[Andrew Biggs]

Hi Barry

Beautiful and innovative as always...............and the photos are great!!!

Cheers
Andrew

[ddushane]

Barry, I got my copy of Blade last week and saw it, I was amazed. Your work is flawless. Beautiful in every aspect. Thanks for the awesome closeup as well.

Dwayne