Engraved folding knife pivot pins

[Jan Hendrik]

Good day fellow engraving enthusiasts!
I have been a member on this forum for some time, but this is my first time posting anything on the forum. I have been practising engraving in my spare time for the past 9 months. The picture above is my most recent work done on 10mm diameter domed pivot screws used in folding knives. The screw metal is 303 stainless steel. The inspiration for the theme on the screws were examples of Sam Alfano rosette engraved gun screws.
These are the first examples of my work that I feel comfortable enough to share on this forum due to the extremely high quality of workmanship and artistry displayed here. You guys and girls are amazing!
Thank you for having me as a member.
All constructive criticism welcomed!

 

[mrthe]

Look nice!

 

[don hicks]

Nice work and nice photography.
Cheers
Don

 

[mdengraver]

Looks great!

 

[atexascowboy2011]

Its good of you to come out of the closet,Jan.
Very nice first showing, especially on such a small canvas.
There are two things that catch my eye.
1- I would like to see a large diamond in the center, being that it is a major focal point. I'm assuming that you have a good source of flawed diamonds to choose from, thereby getting them at a greatly reduced cost, not having to go through a broker.
2- I'd also like to see the smaller as well as the larger center piece (should you decide to add it) with the face facets ABOVE the surface of the buttons. To me they would show better and not trap dirt/debris in what looks to be cavities.

You can form small prongs by starting at the outside of your petal and pushing up a prong by cutting deeper as you go. There is also adequate material to push from the larger stone's space "BEFORE" cutting the larger stones cavity to secure the smaller stones from the middle.

We have SEVERAL proffessional stone setters (Chris from Leige? comes to mind) Maybe they will jump in and give you some pointers also.

The division between the individual petals will be your source material for the center stone.

Vaya con Dios
Jeff

 

[Jan Hendrik]

Thank you for all the kind words. You are too kind, I still have a lot to learn.
Thank you for your insights Jeff, they mirror some of my thoughts as well regarding setting a diamond in the centre of the rosette. However I must confess that my I am a qualified Goldsmith and stone setter with over 17 years experience working in the jewellery industry. Setting is not a problem for me, but learning engraving is a whole different field. The 5 cavities that you see in the photo are the slots used by a special wrench to tighten and loosen the pivot screws. Unfortunately I can't put stones in these cavities as it would make it impossible to tighten these pivot screws.

 

[LVVP]

Very good done, thanks