No scrolls here

[Alain Lovenberg]

Thanks for your comments.
Some answers to Mike, Andrew, and Dmitry:

The background is prepared to receive the gold with a tool called “relevoirâ€￾ (see the picture). It has an angle of 30° and is slightly polished at the tip. This tool is used to chase and not to cut the dovetails. That’s the traditional method in Belgium.
The inlay is made with 24 K gold wires of various thicknesses depending on the surface to fill.
The main difficulty is to have an even surface with this type of work. I planish first with a flat punch , after that I smooth the surface with a flat graver and I finish by a light sandblasting with glass beads. I didn’t want a heavy textured background which would have been easier. Long work indeed!
I estimate that the time to do that work must be around one year. Inlaying the background needed at least 4 months and it is not yet finished.
Yes Andrew, it is the drawing that I showed you at Reno.

 

[Andrew Biggs]

Hi Alain

A lot of work indeed!!!!! Thank you for that explanation. Really appreciate that.

Have I got this right......what you are doing is cutting a shallow channel for the gold and chasing a bevel to hold the gold. Leaving enough gold sitting outside the channel so when it's hammered down it spreads over the background area. As each wire goes in, the gold starts overlapping each other and gradually covering the whole background area

When you planish, smooth and lightly bead blast........................is that before the gold is inlayed or after the gold is inlayed?..........or both?

Just one more question

Do you do the carving/sculpting first.........and the gold work last? What is the order you start and finish this type of work?

Cheers
Andrew

 

[Andrew Biggs]

Just one final question ...........

Do you use the same relevoir to trim the gold around the base of the engraving?

Cheers
Andrew

 

[Alain Lovenberg]

Andrew,

you can cut a channel before chasing the dovetail but that's not necessary, the channel is created by the action of the "relevoir". When you inlay the gold wires to cover a wide surface, it is important to adjust the wires close together so that they don't superpose each other.
My method step by step: I remove the background first and at the same time I roughly prepare the carving, after that I inlay and planish the gold with a flat punch, When that's done I finish the carving , after that I smooth the gold background with a flat graver and I bead blast at the end.
I hope that my explanation is understandable!

 

[Alain Lovenberg]

I use the same type of relevoir but different sizes for different works. For the long straight lines I prefer a wider tool .

 

[Andrew Biggs]

HI Alain

Yes, I understand that explanation..........thank you for that.

Thank goodness we can both read and write English

Between yourself and Phil Coggan you have both got me thinking about a few things.

Cheers
Andrew

 

[SamW]

Most outstanding Alain! Thanks for the info and the photos. That really explains a lot about the process...and I am even more amazed at the quality of your work not to mention the determination to stick to such a process for as long as it takes. No instant gradification here! TOS

PS...looks like you add back almost as much weight in gold and you removed in steel.

 

[Alain Lovenberg]

Hello Sam,
thank you for your kind words. Yes it is sometimes difficult to keep the determination and a fresh mind for so long work. Thank also to the customer who agree to wait .
The deepness of the background before inlaying is +- 6/10 mm and the thickness of the gold added is between 1/10 and 2/10 mm. It remains 4/10 mm for the carving itself. That's not very deep but that's enough . I think that a higher relief would look too heavy on this 20 gauge . After this work I'll start carving another shotgun, a big one, and I'll engrave deeper this time.

 

[Mike Cirelli]

A lot of work Alain. The beauty of your efforts will live forever though. Thanks for sharing the technique with us. It's very similar to the technique Sam describes on his overlay tutorial. Thanks again and the check is in the mail

 

[Christiaan]

Well, ... I'm totally shocked at the detail and amount of work involved ... and the time. What an enormous total project!!! That gun must be worth millions when finished. And no-one can really pay you for the effort, Alain. Bless your soul.

 

[Alain Lovenberg]

Christiaan,

This is a show-piece and it is not this kind of work which pays more, it is obvious, but I would answer you like Fritz Kreisler, a Master of the violin: “I am so fond of playing the violin that I would pay for that, but shh!….”

I am not certain that I would pay to make engraving but it is sure that it is not the profit which is my main goal. I consider that to do a work that I like and make my living of it is to have luck.

Thank you for your appreciation,

Alain

 

[tengraver]

Wonderful work! How is the background done?

 

[SamW]

Tim, check post #21 in this thread. TOS

 

[Weldon47]

Alain,

Each and every time I look at your work I am inspired. It is so awesome!!

Weldon

 

[Tom Curran]

Alain, I am looking again and again at your steel preparation work, and the tool you did the dovetails with. You chased the dovetails, which means that you removed no metal, is that right? I see grooves, or dark parallel lines, running between the letters. Do these lines have the dovetails in them, chased into both sides of the groove? Is this so there is no raised steel to poke through your gold work?

I am very curious, and so very impressed. Your work is killing me with its beauty.

Tom

 

[Alain Lovenberg]

Alain, I am looking again and again at your steel preparation work, and the tool you did the dovetails with. You chased the dovetails, which means that you removed no metal, is that right? I see grooves, or dark parallel lines, running between the letters. Do these lines have the dovetails in them, chased into both sides of the groove? Is this so there is no raised steel to poke through your gold work?

I am very curious, and so very impressed. Your work is killing me with its beauty.

Tom

Tom,

I have made a sketch, it's easier for me than to write in English.
The parallel lines that you see on the photos have been made by the "relevoir".
Chased successively on both sides as you see on the sketch (steps 1 and 2).
For wider surfaces to inlay it is better to cross the channels
in order to cover the ground with a kind of checker-work.
The steel is raised a little with this method but there will no pokes trough the gold if the wire is big enough to extend over them. When the gold wires are chased in the steel and well adjusted close together it remains to smooth the surface with a file, a stone, or a flat graver.

 

[Andrew Biggs]

Hi Alain

Thanks for taking the time to draw the pictures. That explains it really well.

Cheers
Andrew

 

[katia]

Alain,

just one word springs to mind: oufti!

I remember staring at your work in the Lebeau-Courally catalogue at Leon Mignon and thinking: ARGHHHHH!!!
Your work is absolutely awesome and as always so inspiring.
A feast for the eyes!

 

[Tom Curran]

Alain, thank you so much for taking the time explain...and draw....your process. What boggles me (dumbfounds, impresses, overwhelms) is that you put gold into all those little spaces between leaves, inside of letters and more. absolutely spectacular technically, and aethetically beautiful.

Again, thanks for your generosity.

Tom

 

[Weldon47]

Excellent info Alain, thank you again for taking the time & effort to share it with us!

Weldon