Wire Inlay technique??

[oldarmy]

I want to put some wire inlay on my pistol.
But the other times I put some wire inlay on guns it didn't come out very good.
I made some tools from the drawings in Shumways book "recreating the american longrifle"
And i have some silver wire that I got from TOTW.
Do I have to cut the groves for the wire the full depth of the wire ie: 3/16 -I don't have the piece of wire with me,- but I think it's 3/16 or so thick and then put the wire in or do I make the groves not so deep and then cut the extra wire off?
The last time I did it I had to really cut into the wood and then I had gaps and spaces

 

[halfstock54]

I inlet almost the depth of the wire. Was is left over (sticking above the stock) is sanded off as you finish the stock. I made a set of inletting tools from a hacksaw blade that had edges of varying widths. something like:

|___ ___| |__ __| |_ _|
|_| |__| |___|

narrower ones to make turns, wider ones for longer lines.

Scott/Ne

 

[Zonie]

oldarmy: IMO, if you have about 3/32 inch of the ribbon into the wood, it should be all right.
To help it "lock" into the wood, you might want to create grooves along the flat faces of the ribbon before inserting it into the wood.
To do this, holding a fine toothed file at about 90 degrees to the ribbon, place the sharp edge of the file on it and slide it along the length of the ribbon. It will create little grooves.
When the ribbon is inserted into the wood, and the wood is dampened, it will swell into these grooves, locking the ribbon in place.
As an additional insurance to keep the ribbons from working back out, I sometimes wet the groove with a little white glue desolved in water.

I do not envy you if your working with sterling silver. I have enough trouble with brass or German Silver ribbon wanting to bend over when I push it into the groove.

Oh, by the way, note I said pushing it into the groove. I used to hammer it in, but that almost always deformed and bent the ribbon. I now use a hard wood dowel and kind of roll it along the ribbon and pressing down fairly hard with one hand while guiding it with a pair of needle nose plyers with the other hand. (It often takes several passes with the dowel to get the ribbon down far enough.)
This method seems to give me much better control of things.

 

[LRB]

Your wire is way too large. Sterling or pure silver of about .010x.040 or so is plenty. It may be heresy, but I use a pointed Exacto knife to cut it in. You will get a cleaner job if you use a small very sharp knife or chisel to cut off the excess as a file will leave burrs right into the wood. After trimming the excess, sand it on down.

 

[oldarmy]

Zonie,
Thanks for the advise.
I bought the wire from TOTW and it's been siting in my box while I build up enough nerve to use it. I am not sure if it's sterling or the german silver.
I wanted to add a personal touch to the pistol kit I assembled, but once you start cutting lines in a stock it's sure hard to cover them up :redface:

 

[Zonie]

oldarmy: I didn't see any listing for the wire in my old TOTW catalog, and the new TOTW catalog only lists real silver.

I am kinda suprised that it is 3/16 inch wide though.
Of course, my wire is still in the packages it was shipped in when I bought it from Don Eads! (That may not mean much to most of you folks, but he has been out of business for several years). Anyway, the wire I use measures between .055 and .062 (about 1/16) wide and .008 or .014 thick. (I bought two different thicknesses).
If your wire (ribbon) is really about 1/16, I would say you need to install it to it's full depth. Otherwise, IMO it will work it's way out as the stock ages. :boohoo:

 

[Lucky R A]

The wire I use primarily is .010 thick and is 3/32 wide. If you are going around rather sharp curves you can cut a bit thinner to achieve a better flow. I stab cut my design in with chisels made especially for the purpose. The widest is about 3/16 and the smallest is about .050. The blades are made of flat spring stock that is .035 thick. they are sharpened in the same fashion as a knife. I prep my wire by pulling it across a fine file. After the wire is inserted into the slots and the pattern is complete I make a wet mixture of Elmer's glue and water and wet down the area. The water swells the wood tight against the wire, and the glue helps to set it there. When everything is dry I then sand it down, and stain and finish as normal. Remember that after the wire is inserted into the wood and you notice some areas that do not flow as a segment of a circle, you can usually push the wire with a small screwdriver to round out those curves...For a little more dramatic effect try using different thicknesses of wire---some of the thin stuff gets to be a bit of a challenge.