Dragonfly Blossoms - William Henry Knife

[tsterling]

Here are two knife scales I just finished for William Henry Studios. This is their B30 model, and the scales are 416 stainless steel. I’ve placed two main inlays on them, a dragonfly and a butterfly, both in shibuichi (25% silver, 75% copper) and 24k gold. Photos are courtesy of William Henry Studios.







The rest of the engraving is done in a Japanese metal carving technique called shishiaibori. The technique starts out with very deep external outlines (takes me three times around with three different gravers, wide to thin, to get deep enough and cutting heavily each time). Then, the inside edges are carefully carved back, rounding them over to achieve a 3D look. Obviously, you need to have steeper sides in some areas, and shallower sides in others to achieve the 3D look.

The main point is there is no background removal, as in “normalâ€￾ engraving, and all of the design (not including the shibuichi inlays) is at or below the surface, so wear and tear on the engraving should be less of a concern. Anyway, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

You can see a more exhaustive discussion of the shishiaibori technique on my blog here: http://sterlingsculptures.com/wp/?p=2781

And an ad nauseum step-by-step of engraving theses scales here: http://sterlingsculptures.com/wp/?p=2654

Thanks for Looking!

Tom

 

[Paul Russell]

Great work Tom, looks really good.
And thanks for the attached tutorial too.

Cheers, Paul.

 

[Brant]

Tom,
Beautiful work! Thanks for sharing, and the detailed explanations were lots to digest.

Brant

 

[jetta77]

Very interesting Tom. And beautiful work! Thanks for showing.

 

[RDP]

Thank you Tom, not only for your wonderful work you have shared with us, but also the link to the detail tutorial to achieve it, this is going to my favorites, I have to try this at some stage in my life, :clapping::clapping:

Richard.

 

[tsterling]

Hi Folks,

Thanks for the great comments! I'm really stoked that you've liked my work, and also thanks to those of you who used the "Like" button as well. You're the ones who keep me going!

Tom

 

[pedroito]

Thanks for sharing a great job, congratulations!