Steel Horncap-inlays soon

[spadebit]

Hello to all you engravers, here are a couple of images showing a horncap for a saddle that I am working on. Its made of annealed O1 tool steel, cut very nicely. The horncap is a big one, dont be fooled, its will be 5.375 across when we are done. You can see the beggining of the areas that will have silver inlaid into them. So, for fun here is a run down of what I have done to date. The entire pattern was produced within a CAD drawing program- done it for the first time for fun and learning. I transferred and started cutting the outline work with a 105 Square-I have about 9 hours cutting time and done it all under a scope. Then I began the background removal. I used my square and cutaway at the edges, then went to my heavily modified 37 flat with a radiused counter grind on the belly, very short heel at 20 degrees. That worked real well for nice flat removal of material. Stipplers proved to be quite an issue. Standard stipple points just didnt hold up??. I ended up taking small round files that we use in the tool shop, tapered on a belt grinder under a water spray to keep them cool. These points seemed to handle the work a lot better. Yes, I did have to resharpen on the hone every once in awhile. That brings us to this point where I have 28 hours of back ground and stippling work. I am pretty sure that the shading will surpass that. I know I am old, just hard to get comfortable with being slow as well. I will post more later if life allows me to finally get it done.

 

[John Cole]

Wow! Can't wait to see more!

 

[Marrinan]

Very nice design. Cut very well. Slow is relative to the work accomplished. Besides, a nap is good for us old geezers. Fred

 

[Denny]

That is just killer. Great cutting and design. The inlaid area will really pop when finished. I assume you used O1 so you could harden it after you are done and protect the engraving from the "high wear" to which a horn cap is subject. Is that why you used O1? I have never tried that but it seems like a great idea.

 

[Troy G]

Looking great... can't wait to see it finished!

 

[spadebit]

To answer the question on material and hardening the item prior to installation..........well, you may have thought me too smart by half. The material is simply some that we have around in sheet form for the many tools we build here. It is fully annealed at the factory and a 2B finish when sent to us. I dont think I want to heat treat it, My thoughts are that wear will take its toll, but rust will be the biggest obstacle. I will post more as I get more done.

 

[bronc]

Really nice work Jeremiah! I sure look forward to seeing more pics.

Stewart

 

[monk]

yeah, nice. the 2nd foto shows very good cutting control.

 

[TyG]

Very pretty mate, is it going to be Blued or Greyed for contrast with the silver? I kept my copy for the photo album. Ty.

 

[atexascowboy2011]

Wear will give the piece a patina that says - Been there, done that.