Inlay Sterling in Brass

[walterwcarrico]

First let me say hello to the group and I have been reading through the threads on what I want to learn or improve on. I have been doing push engraving for a few years now and have just purchased a Lindsay Classic PalmControl Air Graver and am totally in love. I am a jeweler by trade and have experience engraving on Gold, Sterling and Platinum but have never done inlaying before. I was recently asked to do a project that I hope can be done. I have found no guidance on any of the threads. I want to engrave some name plates with 48 degree slant script 3/4 " - 1 " high with silver inlay. Can anyone shed some light on how this might be accomplished? To practice I have 18 gage brass plates and plenty of sterling wire.

[SVD]

Hmmm....

I haven't done much inlay so I can't answer your specific question about inlaying silver into brass but I can give some general pointers.

Just in case you're totally unfamiliar with the process, you cut a channel about 3/4 the size of the wire you're going to inlay, undercut the sides of it (making the bottom look like kind of like a 'W') and then use a slightly rounded rod in your handpiece to hammer the wire in.

The problem I can see with your project is whether or not the brass is hard enough to hold the silver or if it will fold first, leaving the silver unsecured.

[walterwcarrico]

Steve,

Thank you for the information. I tried a little yesterday and could not get the sterling to stick in the grove. I used my Lindsay Graver with a rounded end brass burnisher I made to fit my Hand Piece. I am going to try again tomorrow and see if I have better luck. Under my scope it looked like it was not going into the dove tail. I used the only thing I could find as a reference which is the information Steve Lindsay has about gold inlay on his site. The one thing I can not find is how to make a hook, what they look like. I am also not sure I will need it for small lettering. I hope and pray I can do this because I am sure people from my business groups will want them. Also I did anneal the Sterling wire prior to using it and it mashed into the grove but it seemed not to go into the dove channels I made with my NSK hand piece. I welcome any other ideas you or anyone else might have to help me on this project.

Thank you for you help and response.

[SVD]

Just to check your technique, do you have some steel practice plates you can use? That would tell you if the problem is how you're cutting the channel or if it is just that the silver is too hard to be inlaid into the brass.

My undercutting chisel is just a simple 70 degree face on a square graver blank with no heel. I set to a low stroke speed and give it about 3-4 pops, then slide it to the side one width. Gives me a nice, bold undercut.

Sudden thought - when the silver pulls out does it show the shape of the bottom of the cut (i.e., looking at it should show if it did go into the dovetail or not)?

[walterwcarrico]

No I never thought about using steel. I guess I could order it. Are you using the chisel on both sides to cut your undercuts all the way down or just rotating from side to side? Are you using a bur as well? And I suppose I could cut a blank square graver down to 70 degree face and try that but it would need to be very thin and small for the size work I am doing?

Also I can see the imprint of the channel perfectly on the sterling but I don’t see the groves on it that are cut left and right of my channel where the silver is suppose to go into. The letter I am practicing on is about 39 cm long and the channels I cut are 1 mm wide with the groves on both sides going in about .25 mm lining both sides. Could it be that my bur is rounding the undercuts to much?

walterwcarrico

[SVD]

It sounds like the silver isn't flowing into the side cuts before they close up.

My initial cut is a simple channel cut with a 90 degree V graver. The undercut chisel is like a flat - actually like a regular, metal working chisel - just a sharp wedge. I point it straight into the side of channel, lift the handpiece up so I'm cutting down and out from the side of the channel and then drive it into the side. I pull it out and set it on the side to continue the cut.

You know, if you can get to the Engrave-In at Scot's place after the BLADE show - or even the BLADE show there are a lot of people who can show you this live and in person. Unfortunately I won't be one of them (time and finances).

The steel I use is the standard practice plate. Just about any mild steel should work- it just needs to be something soft enough to engrave (300 series stainless is supposed to be a pain) and harder than silver. You could also test using nice, soft copper instead of silver - I think unalloyed copper should be softer than brass.

If you post a message in the main discussion area I'll bet there's someone nearby who will show you doing inlay and help you figure out if you can inlay silver into brass.

If you can't get silver into brass to work there may be other combinations you can do to give the effect of it.

[mckeenh]

Thanks to all you who have posted. Since I have only worked in steel this is something I hadn't thought about but I am sure it will raise its ugly head someday and if I will remember this it won't be quite as difficult.

Neil:yesnod:

[SVD]

Now that he's got a thread in the main section I bet he gets some good answers. Since there are guys who routinely inlay iron wire into things you know they know some tricks.