Silver Wire Tutorial Part 4
These inlays
are ready to set into the wood. It doesn’t matter which one is put in first, but I picked this larger piece which
will be easier for you to see. The first thing to do is to tape the piece in place with clear tape, being careful
to make sure it is exactly where you want it.
Now place a piece of flat metal over it and hit it with a small hammer.
This is going to take you a little time to know just how hard to hit it, but you will catch on quickly.
What you want
is to put a slight dent into the wood, and I mean SLIGHT, not half inlet.
If you hit it too hard it will
shatter the surrounding wood, and you will not be able to see a clean line when you remove the inlay. The dent should
be so slight that you will have to place a light very close and off to the side in order to see it. You get one chance
at this job, if you do it the second time you may get a double line and you
won’t know which one is right.
I suggest that you practice this job several times on a scrap piece of wood.
These two pictures
show the dent, you will have to look closely.
Now match up a
gouge to the curve and plunge cut on the inside edge of the dent. As your gouge goes in the bevel on the inside it will
have a tendency to push the gouge outward, widening the opening a bit. This is exactly what you want. Now follow
the outline completely around the edge, using gouges or chisels with the appropriate curve. It is very important to get the
plunge cut the full, approximately depth of the metal. (.060)
If you get it right, the chip of wood
will come out to the depth.
Here is the indent
ready to be cut.
On a very small inlay like this one, cut the most intricate circles
first.
For this you need gouges exactly the correct size.
Bevel the back edge as before.
Now put it in
place, and tap it in.
Now we are ready to go on to the next inlay.
The next pictures
show the necessity to have many small gouges.
Plunge in your small radius first. This is a perfect
example.
Now join lines
with larger gouges and chisels.
Remove piece.
Some will not
come out in one piece.
Looks like it
will fit. Now bevel back. These pictures may seem repetitious but you will get a look at different shapes going in.
Your vise will
hold the inlays in different positions for easy filing.
Now it’s
ready to put in.
Another piece
in.
This is a good
example of a perfect indent.
I plunge cut this
inlay with a square chisel just to show that as long as the wood is pushed back, even though it is not smooth, the wood will
come back snug after the water is applied. We will not apply the water until
all inlays are in.
This very small
chisel was made from an Allen wrench. I use this quite often for scraping the bottom of the inlet if the wood has not
come out clean and for plunge cutting very small areas.
Now that all the
leafs are in we are ready to join then together with the silver wire. This is the wire that I like to use. It
is .008 and .012.
I must say that I use much more of the thinner wire, but there are some places that a heavier wire
looks better. If you desire thinner wire you can pull it through a roller, or use it like a shoe shine rag over a square
corner. When the wire ends without joining another piece tapering it with a file gives a nice effect.
For instruction how
to inlay the wire, see part one and two.
Now we can join the leaves with wire in such a way it will look
like the leaves and vines are all one piece.
Once all the wire is in place, it is time to wet the
surface with water to swell the wood back in place. This will hold all the leaves and wire in place until the first
coat of sealer goes on the wood. If all the silver is put in nice and tight the sealer should hold it like glue.
Now that the silver
is tight, with a piece of fine emery paper, sand down the protruding wire until it is all the same height. Do not sand
it down to the surface of the wood. You want it to remain high until almost all the finish is on the stock. Just before
the last coat of finish is when you will bring the wire down to the finished height, which will be just above the surface.
If you sand it down to the wood before the finish goes on, the finish will cover the silver and you will never be able
to clean the silver.
After the silver has been sanded down, clean the wood with
a pencil eraser.
Now do the other side of the design.
Now I am cutting
the groove for the wire that goes around the patch box. I am using a regular straight 5/8 chisel for the
straight area and switching to a gouge to go around the curve.
If you do not
have a gouge that will match up to the curve, use a very small straight chisel.
Start the wire
at one and tap it in gently as you go until you are at the other end. Remember if it doesn’t go in easily
or if it bends while tapping it in, the groove is not open enough. Remove the bent wire, replunge the groove and add
new wire.
There it is complete.
Now just add the water to shrink the wood and that part is done.
There is just
one more section to add wire to and that will be in Part Five.
