It's not gold inlay but

This tough little Al Mar stainless pocket knife is engraved with a bit of twisted scroll, the background has been removed and inlaid with Ceramit paint.
In order to do this you need to be accurate and in control of your chisels.I use 3 different width flat gravers for background removal and a sq.graver to cut scroll and shading. When the work is to the point that you would normally begin undercutting for metal inlay, mix the paint and apply. Once the paint is set, sand off the excess, 600 grit wet paper works for me.
It isn’t gold inlay but I think the effect is pleasing and much less time consuming.
I have never been a big enthusiast of intertwining scrolls for two reasons.
1 I believe that the buyer and non engraving viewers of such work brain’s become confused when looking at them, thus causing a loss of interest in the work. Where as, a clean straight forward design is easier for the eye to follow and is therefore more pleasant to look at.
2 Therefore the extra effort and time involved is not rewarded when an engraver does twisty scrolls. That is unless they are skillful enough to command high pay per hour commissions from the sophisticated collector.
I can understand the beginner and medium level engraver’s motivation to show off tool control skills as they are hard to learn,but they should take care not to complicate their engraving life too soon.
With my thanks to Ron Smith for his great book on scroll design and shading, here are the two sides; which one do you prefer? Thanks for looking, and have a great day.

I like the 1st one, and thanks for the simple way to fill in the background.

Jim

Joseph thats really nice and i like the look of the simpler approach myself.
Thanks for showing it.
Steve

that gives me a few good ideas to do with the al mars i have

looks great

Joeseph, Lovely work. I can see the possibilty of homogenizing the two styles into one or to be left alone as is. Being able to see both sides at the same time for a comparison allows newbies like me to zero in on the differences between styles. It makes for a great learning experience. I have made hard copies for my files and by this time next year my Al Mar knife engraving will be compared to yours. Best regards, Dave "Spank" Spanski.

Joeseph, first of all very nice and clean design. When I first read your comments about twisty scrolls I was taken aback thinking yeah what does he know. Then two seconds later it hit me that I am one of those people that try and put way too much detail into my engraving when I'm probably not ready for it as I'm still an amateur. You on the other hand have many, many years in the industry and know a thing or two about design. I really need to look at my work w the naked eye more often and get my head out of the scope.

I too love Ron's books on scroll design. I hope one day to have Ron

autograph mine.

Also, I appreciate your pushing the envelope, and I could be wrong, but the ceramit to me looks cheap, where Blackening the background w FLAT BLACK would really make the steel look it's best. I would need to see it in person to make a real claim though.

I like that a LOT Joseph. Very creative how the scroll merges into the border.

Thanks for posting it.