Wire Inlay

[Pukka Bundook]

Jim Kibler,
I am a blacksmith compared to you and many others, but when I have done wire inlay, the method of putting the teeth on the lower edge as you describe  is the way I learned it.

I would use a dull knife and chop teeth in it lightly.  With that method there is no chance of the wire coming back out.

[Bob Gerard]

I can imagine how lost on time the artist becomes doing this intricate work.

[Pukka Bundook]

Bob,

I am still trying to imagine how it works, to jam multiple wires in the same cut, without it coughing its guts back out, so to speak.
Yes, I know this is how the silver is thickened, but my thought would have been to cut directly beside every few wires, rather than attempt to jam too many in the same cut.

Best.
R.

[HighUintas]

Are there any recommended "how to" books on wire inlay?

[smart dog]

Hi,
Yes.  David Price's little book on wire inlay. 
https://www.lulu.com/shop/david-price/david-price-silver-wire-tutorial/paperback/product-1jere6zw.html?page=1&pageSize=4

dave

[rich pierce]

Hi,
Yes.  David Price's little book on wire inlay. 
https://www.lulu.com/shop/david-price/david-price-silver-wire-tutorial/paperback/product-1jere6zw.html?page=1&pageSize=4

dave

Well, he’d be one of the right people to write such a book! I get to see more of his work now that I’m in New England and each piece is very fine.

[Tim Crosby]

Are there any recommended "how to" books on wire inlay?

 Have you seen these?

  https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=58936.msg589370#msg589370

  https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=31036.msg297696#msg297696

   Tim C.

[Blacksmoke]

Then , of course there are the short articles that I wrote for "Gunmaker" magazine which are available on this forum under "services and products"  Hugh Toenjes

[axelp]

I read in a post on another forum that a gent used epoxy to keep the wire in, but that seems like a potential mess to try and finish the wood afterwards.

Tasty "frosting" on that cake Mr. Pierce to be sure.

It's definitely a "high art." If I were to show up in a hunter's camp carrying a "gentleman's" gun of such quality, I would have been labeled a thief and strung up to a nearby tree.

Pretty though

K

[Mike Brooks]

Here's one of the few makers I would rate as "Master". Mark Silver's Germanic rifle. I never got to handle it, but it looks spectacular in pictures. Mark really knows his way around wire work. And everything else for that matter!Some things that come to mind when I look at this gun. I don't believe it's a copy of any particular gun but rather built around a traditional school with his own traditional designed carving and wire patterns applied. He certainly didn't need to do a contemporary styled gun to display his design and execution skills.

[axelp]

Tim thank you for the links. Outstanding work. The step by step helped a lot. Again, the thick and thin attributes of the work are just fabulous in both Mark Silver's and also in Acer's work. Wow.

[Jim Kibler]

Mark Silver.

[Blacksmoke]

Beautiful!!

[Mike Brooks]

That's the one I was looking for. Nothing has been built like that since the 1770s.

[axelp]

wow. yep.

[Blacksmoke]

Thanks Mike: For posting photos of Mark Silver's wire work! Those are the same pictures that I use as examples when I teach wire inlay.  Also, I have with me the cased set that is posted on this forum under Contemporary Gun Collecting. Then the student can get up close and personal to see wire on a rifle stock.  Instead of on a flat surface.  When doing wire on a convex on concave surface one needs to do further treatment to the silver ribbon before it is lowered into the "stab in". The wire needs to be shaped to the curve of rounded section.  Also I do not use those small hacksaw blades for stabbing in. I find that your hand gets in the way blocking your vision which leads to the dreaded "elbows" in ones pattern. The final wire image will only be as good as the pattern drawn on the wood.  I fashion "stab in" tools from small screw drivers and chisel gouges.  It allows me to keep on the pattern lines a lot better.  As to the varying thickness of the wire I simply lay in additional sections of ribbon which are heavily tapered at each end.  Do not use epoxy to hold the ribbon in place. It will be too hard to remove all from the wood surface and there will be areas where the stain will not take. The same goes for "Crazy Glue".   Hugh Toenjes