Silver Inlay

A few people have been asking me about the process that I’m using to engrave my black powder pistol. Let me start by saying that this is only the way I do things, it is not necessarily the only or best way and if I find a better way then I will do that. I first drew a pattern using a drafting pencil on Mylar film. I decided on a skeletal scroll design that would have all the lines inlayed with silver to contrast the color case on the lockplate and browning of the barrel. After some refinement I scanned the patterns into the computer and tweaked and resized them in adobe illustrator.

I then apply some transfer fluid to the metal and print a reflection of the design on transparency paper. The ink is only lightly attached to the tooth of the plastic and can be easily burnished onto the workpiece. I then use a 90˚ square graver to cut the pattern. I then remove the ink lines and deepen the lines with a freshly sharpened square graver to achieve the desired width of line. To get the silver wire to stay in the metal the lines must be undercut so as to create a channel to hold the softer silver. I use a flat graver that has been ground to a point 8-10 thousandth wide. I use a scallop style cut as taught to me by Ray Cover in the bottom of the original v line as this lessens travel of the wire in the line while hammering.

After the undercut has been made I hammer the silver wire into the lines, this leaves a few thousandths of silver above the level of the metal. This is taken down to flush with a combination of draw filing, polishing paper, and Gesswein stones.

The initial design for the barrel.
Barrel design final after work in illustrator.
Initial lockplate design
Refined lockplate design.
My messy bench.
barrel all cut ready to inlay.
Monarch handpiece with lockplate in process.
The gravers i used.
Square graver with penny for size reference.
Flat undercut graver with penny for reference.
Lockplate in process under scope
Cutting initial lines
Inlaying silver into scalloped undercut lines
Silver hammered in prior to sanding.
Finished inlay ready for color case hardening.

Im a High Baker

Ok, so this post has been a long time coming. I have been doing a lot of baking recently. For those of you who don’t know I am at about 6000 feet. Betty Crocker says that anything over 3500 feet is high altitude. In St. Louis I loved to bake and was afraid when moving to Trinidad of having problems baking with the altitude.

The strangest thing has happened; I have become a better baker. All of my baked goods have improved. My breads are all rising uniformly and in a reasonable time(sometimes in STL it

may take all day even in the summer). My bagels have never been better. So far I am blaming the humidity as it is extremely low here.

Went to Bishop Castle, a fantastic place. The entire castle is hand built by one man, Jim Bishop, with all recycled and scrap parts, even all the rock came from the side of the highway. Its on Hwy 165 a few miles off of I25 and it is definitely worth the visit. when you get out of your car you are greeted with a few signs and warnings.

You can tell that he is a bit of an eccentric, but i think that all visionaries are. This man and his castle seems to cast doubt on the phrase "No man is an island".

Getting there.

So I've arrived in Trinidad Colorado where I will be going to school for gunsmithing, seems like a great time to start my blog. Ive got a great two bedroom apartment with enough space for all my stuff and a living room full of tools and workspace. The rents' helped me get all settled and left me with a kitchen full of food so I'm off to a great start.