Poured molten inlay?

[lost arrow 801]

Has anyone  ever poured pewter  or possibly  silver into an inlay ? Would the silver be to hot ?

[davec2]

Not possible to pour silver into an inlay.  To pour sterling silver it needs to be at about 1800 degrees F.  It would completely char / burn away any of the wood it touches.  Pewter, some lead alloys, Cerrobend, CerroSafe (and similar alloys) melt at much lower temperatures and can be poured into a cavity in wood (like pouring a pewter nose cap).  In fact, some of the Cerro type alloys melt as low as 158 degrees F (less than boiling water temperature) and, as such, cast very easily into a cavity prepared in wood.

[Nordnecker]

I fooled around trying to do this on some scraps last winter. I was using 95/5 solder. I wasn't satisfied with the results enough to try it on the actual gun. Aparently, you need to undercut the edges of your inlay/ mortise so the infill with be captured in the wood. I was trying to do stars and diamonds with pointed ends. I couldn't get the molten metal to reliably fill the points. I tried burnishing the metal down into the points with a piece of deer antler and it helped. I saved these scraps and the burnished metal is still very shiny and smooth. Good luck.

[smylee grouch]

If you do use pewter, warm the stock as much as you can and rub a #2 lead pencil into the under cuts to help the pewter to flow better.

[Tim Crosby]

 I have added Pewter as inlays on knife and Pipe Hawk handles. Cut out your inlay shape in the stock, put a tiny Brass screw in the middle, the screw is you anchor point, with the head just barely above the floor of your cut. Make a dam out of modeling clay, the kind you can bake in the oven, around the inlet, doesn't have to be high just above the stock surface. Pour the Pewter, do not get it to hot, let it cool and file back the excess. The dam should extend maybe a 1/8" beyond the cavity. It does help as smylee said to rub the cavity with pencil lead.

 As always I would suggest a test run on scraps until you get the process down.

  Tim C.

[Ky-Flinter]

Tim, good tip on using a screw for an anchor.  I'll remember that.

Amen on the pointed ends being difficult to fill and stay in place when filing.  I ended up drilling small holes at an angle under the points to create anchors.  Then I filed very carefully from the middle of the "inlay" toward the point.  Filing cross ways tended to pull the point out of the wood.

-Ron

[Hungry Horse]

 In the March/April 2016 Muzzleloader magazine, Ian Pratt is featured with pictures of some of his extraordinary guns. One of these guns is an Appalachian poor boy that features an amazing chevroned cast nosecap of incedable length, and complexity. But, the real icing on the cake is the poured wrist inlay, that features open work, and scalloped, and saw toothed edges. I have been scratching my head, and trying to get my courage up, to try a more modest version of his work, ever since I saw the article.

  Hungry Horse

[Captchee]

 As was said , silver would be to hot in molten form .
 I have done a lot of pewter casting to  gun stocks  through the years.
 Everything from simple nose caps  to fluted nose caps with finals , tang inlays  poured around  brass and copper  thumb pieces , Side plates , pistol grip finals
 Pewter  can  cast  very nicely to wood   with very fine detail with some practice

Other opinions my very but here is what I have found  when casting pewter to a stock .

Try and stay clear of the low lead pewter’s .  Some of these like cerrosafe , will shrink , then expand. So  if your ordering pewter alloys be sure to read  up on  them and what the intened use of the alloys is .    To much lead and the pewter will be to soft  to retain  its integrity. Older pewter  that’s often found in belt buckles  or even old  food  and drinking wears  I find to be  very usable . Its often easily obtained  as its no longer considered to be food safe .
 
 If im casting to an unfinished stock , then I do the pour prior to bringing the area down to  finished  dimensions.  This is with the exception of  if im pouring  say a sculpted  type of casting . In which case the  stock has to be very near  or at finished proportions
 But for simple flat  casting  I make the beds deep so as to be able to sand down  both the stock and the poured inlay at least a little .  This is really important with softer woods  . Even with the lower temp of pewter , you can end up with a  some surface charring.  Unless you really got your  pewter  way to hot , this chare should not go to deep. A light sanding or some light file work will take it right off .    
  I don’t undercut a lot  and when I do its  not a very deep undercut “ not a steep angle “.
 Nothing is as disappointing then  filing down a pour  to find that  your  undercut didn’t flow  and now you have a gaping hole . Or worse  finish sanding  and  finding a cavity in an undercut area .  You either have to try and fill it or pull the  inlay and start over .
 Which isn’t an easy task when everything is under cut .
 Depending on the size of the  bed I  anchor the  pewter  one of two ways .
a)  make a couple small staples  . Sewing needles work great . Either make a  U staple  or an L will work  so that the pewter will flow under .
b) Smaller pours Ill drill a  few holes that link to each other  in the bottom of the bed . Very seldom have I found where the pour flowed threw these. However it does go in far enough to anchor  the pour to the bottom of the bed .
A) is the best IMO .  

 I also  take a pencil and  coat the walls and undercuts as best as I can . This IMO seems to help the flow of the pewter  reducing pockets where the pewter doesn’t flow into

 Pouring around another inlay  like  brass or copper can be tricky  as rapid cooling takes place along the edges of the  unlike material  .  So normally ill  bevel the back side of the inlay  then solder on a small post . Then drive the inlay into the  bed  , leaving it level with the top of the bed but not all the way to the bottom . This allows the pewter to pour under , heating the inlay  during the pour and reducing the pewter from pulling back  .

 Lastly this .
  When doing castings  be it pewter to a stock or  sand casting parts with  detail or small areas  . I find it very beneficial to  apply  head pressure  especially if you have fine detail and thin areas   .  The thinner  a detail the faster the molten  material will cool as it tries to  flow into it .
 Head pressure applies weight to the pour  forcing it into those smaller areas . It also helps maintain heat in the actual inlay or casting . This helps reduce the rapid cooling of those fine areas  and forcing the flow into those same areas by means of the added weight  of the molten  material    above the intended casting .
  If you try an pour level or just above level of the  surface of the item  you don’t have that  head pressure   and your chances of success will be reduced .
  So make your reservoir larger  and deeper then   your inlay . I think you will find you will get a lot nicer pours by doing so  

Anyway .  Those are some of the things I have found to be beneficial