practice plate with copper inlay

[KSnyder]

Everyone, my first attempt at inlay, an eye opener for sure copper work hardens pretty fast. I was tryin' out a 120 chisel , square,flats, & different cuts and borders all cut with hammer.
The dark blue from nitre (potassium nitrate) took on a rose color I guess from the copper.
all comments & critiques welcome
Kent

 

[pilkguns]

Kent overall it looks pretty good. Scroll is all flowing in the right direction and balance is pretty good. I like the way your 1-2-3 scroll cuts through the copper border. I am sure you learned a lot and see things already that you wish you could do over. Like the nip border across the top, then the leaf border shaded right on top of that. Kind of clashes , to me anyway.

Looking at it a little more, these are some things I see that could be improved.

The scroll starting at 6 could be its own self originating scroll (really it is), but more realistically it looks its coming from the 1-2-3 scroll, only of course there is missing link to connect them. If 6 is the beginning of the new scroll, it needs another line to it to give the backbone full definition, since you have a two line backbone everywhere else. You could easily go back and add that now.

The scroll starting at 4 flows the right direction, but leaves the previous scroll a little awkwardly. I would think that it would better to start more about where the 5 is placed, and again that is something you could go back over now and improve.

Not sure what the intent of the cuts in the backbone above 7-8-9-10 are, but they darken the backbone and therefore weaken the appearance of the backbone, at a critical juncture even, cause it seems that the backbone is subservant to the interior leaf(ves) that are adjacent to the backbone there and this should not be. The backbone or spine of the scroll should be the strongest part of the pattern because it gives definition to the whole pattern. If anything the leaves should be shaded where they meet the backbone, emphasizing the strong, rather than other way around ( a small leaf overshadowing a backbone). Not to say the leaves should be shaded against the backbone, normally I would not, but you could and it would accent the backbone.

11 is just a blank area, all by itself in the open, I think I would go back and fill in this area with another scroll rolling off from the 1-2-3 scroll. Since you have beaded the background between most of the scrolls it looks a little incomplete or unbalanced that you have scrolls on top and on bottom with beaded background but a big center portion that is not. Again this is something that can be gone back done to it now.

Keep up the good work and let us see another one.

 

[jacques herbst]

KSnyder just keep making chips.there is one thing that i noticed and i to do that.it is the leaves of the scroll that do not look like they came of the same plant if that makes sense.look at 2 and 3 and compare them to 11 and 8.i do not know if this is fine or not ,so hoping that some one that knows could give the answer to that.thank you scott this helps me to.

 

[KSnyder]

Scott, thanks for your honest assesment.
I wasn't going for full coverage hence no background treatment inbetween the scroll groups. I was just cuttin' for practice & went off on a tangent . one too many pale ales
But anyway, I will print your critique and gain knowledge from the excercise.
It took me a long time to cut the inlay,and the plate whew!
I learn so much from this forum being basically self taught and value your professional advice greatly.
I wasn't going to post the pic but said , what the heck why not?
Jacques, I know the leaves dont look formally the same, but I do it anyway , right or wrong .
I like to experiment.
I'll post again when I get the chance, thanks again,
Kent

 

[John B.]

Hi Kent.
If copper is put in hot blue ( black oxide ) tanks it will "plate out" on to any precious metal put into this tank with it or at a later time.
It will quickly kill a tank of blueing salts also.
I did not know that it plated out to steel in a nitre blue process.
I learned something, thanks for the heads up and the post.

John B.

 

[KSnyder]

John, me too! just started using nitre a couple months ago.
K