Multi-color gold inlay

[Weldon47]

Shown here is a Bernardelli 20ga. with multi-color gold inlay ( both raised & flush, 24 & 14K) on a background bed of english scroll. The standing fences are deep relief oak leaf & acorn.
Lots of work!

Weldon

 

[ddushane]

Looks good Weldon, wish the picture was more close up, my eyes ain't what they use to be , Dwayne

 

[Weldon47]

D.
Did you place your cursor over the picture & double click?

Weldon

 

[Glenn]

Weldon could you show more photos? This is great work and begs me to ask for more pictures. Thanks, Glenn

 

[Weldon47]

Glen,


Thanks, I don't have too many of this piece. It was done before digital cameras (unfortunately) and it's a job getting the pics into a compatible format. I'll keep trying!

Wedlon

 

[Steve223]

Very Pretty Weldon and it looks like a bunch oh work

 

[Ron Smith]

Bunch of work? This could be overlays possibly. I doubt it, but inlays of this magnitude takes a lot of skill and experience. If you have not done this, you cannot imagine. Work hardening metals require superb inlaying tactics. This would probably add weeks onto a job that I might do, but I have this dreaded fear of one of
my inlays falling out. I cherish my customers and can only imagine the embarrasment of the client that loses one amongst his buddies on the skeet range.

Multi-colored inlays are particularly prone to resist inlaying. Your cavities need to be carefully prepared and you must make sure they are going to stick instead of flattening your holding keys and undercutting. they work harden quickly and begin to curl up if they don 't stick quickly. You will never get them in so they will hold, except for maybe line inlaying, if you use regualr undercutting techniques for 24k. Be careful and get your tactics down in practice before you try this.

I use multi-colored metals and special techniques to inlay them........this is a very nice piece. Thanks for the picture and the post..........Ron S

 

[Weldon47]

Ron,


You are correct, these are inlays, not overlays. The big bouquet of flowers and the scroll at the step in the receiver are raised inlays, the rest are inlayed flush with the surface.
I concur, inlays not done correctly & falling out are probably our worst nightmare. As I'm sure you have, I have replaced and repaired inlays (fortunately, not my own) that have fallen out due to being improperly done. The gun shown in the pictures was engraved in the late 1990's and has endured being hunted with (they are made to use, right) and shot some. I did it and a companion .410 as a pair for the client who not only likes to look at them but actually uses them too!
Your admonition is well founded: do inlays properly, don't take shortcuts & all is well!
Thanks for the kind words!

Weldon

 

[Thierry Duguet]

Hello,

Great job!!
Why did you use some 14 K gold? Silver, even platinum or 18 K white gold would have been softer. Do you use wire or gold sheet?

 

[pierre]

It's a realy fine workyou do but like Mr Ron said it's really hard to do.Like you said, it's better when it's raised .wich alloys do you use for the white part? I use palladium and silver but no white gold it's too hard. i use also green and red gold but the red gold is very very hard to inlay.
when i do multi colored inlay i always begin by the smooth one until the hard one . I do inlay with the wire method.
in follow an example of step work

 

[Weldon47]

Thierry,

Excellent questions! I chose to use 14K for the color contrast (24K, 14K yellow, green & rose) possible with that compared with 18K (I thought the color difference was slightly more apparent). There are actually some silver inlays (little leaves) in addition to the karat gold inlays. I used sheet gold for the karat inlays. I may have used a short piece of wire (karat gold) but it's been too long ago to remember every detail. You are correct, the karat golds are stiff & they work harden rapidly. I find that you usually get about one shot at it! I now use the side-by-side wire inlay technique when doing raised 24K overlays but I wasn't doing it at the time I did this gun. The technique I use to inlay a piece of karat gold is the same that allows me to do a raised steel inlay. I have an article about it (raised steel inlay) in the upcoming issue of the "Engraver" (the quarterly publication FEGA ) that you may find interesting.

Thanks,

Weldon

 

[Weldon47]

Pierre,

Your work is exquisite! The pheasants are beautiful & I especially like the raised part of the scroll! Wonderful work, thanks for sharing!

Weldon

 

[Ron Smith]

Weldon, I see an old friend Frank Hendricks coming through again. I feel he never got the true credit he deserved. He was a special guy and an encyclopedia of knowledge and a superb craftsman. He explained iron inlays to me many years ago. I have never tried it. I got off into colored metals and that was that, but always thought I would try it some day. Do you do like he did and silver solder copper on the base before inlaying? Excellent work by the way.....Ron S

 

[Weldon47]

Ron,

Thanks for the comparison, Frank was a genius of many things, not sure I qualify for any! I don't do it the way Frank did steel inlay but use a different technique. It is best explained with pictures & I posted some several months ago here. I am pressed for time at the moment but will post an in depth explanation as soon as possible!

Thanks,

Wedlon

 

[ddushane]

D.
Did you place your cursor over the picture & double click?

Weldon

Weldon, I did click on them, I'm just wanting more, I know I know I know Nothin's ever good enough! I know your work is beautiful by now It's just that I wanted bigger pictures than what you already had, I'll try to quit being sooooooooooooooo picky Love your work by the way, I really love the knife with the cross! Dwayne

 

[Thierry Duguet]

Weldon, I did click on them, I'm just wanting more, I know I know I know Nothin's ever good enough! I know your work is beautiful by now It's just that I wanted bigger pictures than what you already had, I'll try to quit being sooooooooooooooo picky Love your work by the way, I really love the knife with the cross! Dwayne

Just capture the picture and zoom in using Photoshop