I just finished these up or a member I sent them out today. I took a lot of pcs so here they are with a little instruction..
in this case the inlay was .999 silver. So typically what I do is choose a round or a square that best fits the inlay that I'm going to do. If needed as in this case I may need to hammer out the silver to get it large enough to fit the inlay that I will be cutting. Some times I hammer it out just to thin the metal a bit. You can buy sheets of silver in different thicknesses but it is typically more expensive than just buying silver bullion. So I choose to buy the blanks that way I am paying market price for the raw material. in the case of gold I buy it at the same place I buy my silver. They will sell me scrap gold at 3% over the price they paid I typically I buy 14k and melt it down and poor it into a mold that roughly fits the inlay I'm doing.. After I hammer it out I anneal it to make it soft again this makes it easier to cut and shape.
Whether I draw the inlay out or get it from an image I size it and print it out. than I cut it close with a razor blade and use super glue to stick it to the face of the metal inlay. If I'm using wood as the inlay I will use a tack spray..
Now comes the fun part I cut the inlay by hand with a jeweler's saw it can be time consuming depending on the detail. The finer the detail the better your cuts need to be. files can only reach certain areas so some times your saw cut is it. In the first picture below I am holding roughly 10 blades in my fingers
in this case the inlay was .999 silver. So typically what I do is choose a round or a square that best fits the inlay that I'm going to do. If needed as in this case I may need to hammer out the silver to get it large enough to fit the inlay that I will be cutting. Some times I hammer it out just to thin the metal a bit. You can buy sheets of silver in different thicknesses but it is typically more expensive than just buying silver bullion. So I choose to buy the blanks that way I am paying market price for the raw material. in the case of gold I buy it at the same place I buy my silver. They will sell me scrap gold at 3% over the price they paid I typically I buy 14k and melt it down and poor it into a mold that roughly fits the inlay I'm doing.. After I hammer it out I anneal it to make it soft again this makes it easier to cut and shape.
Whether I draw the inlay out or get it from an image I size it and print it out. than I cut it close with a razor blade and use super glue to stick it to the face of the metal inlay. If I'm using wood as the inlay I will use a tack spray..
Now comes the fun part I cut the inlay by hand with a jeweler's saw it can be time consuming depending on the detail. The finer the detail the better your cuts need to be. files can only reach certain areas so some times your saw cut is it. In the first picture below I am holding roughly 10 blades in my fingers
