?celtic silver inlay's?

[McAhron]

i would like to learn about how silver inlays were once done.i believe the process entailed mixing silver with something then fireing it ,thuss melting it into the pre cut grooves.any information would be much appreciated.

[mstu]

My understanding is that silver was generally inlayed into grooves chiseled into metal (wood too), rather than melted, although I'd love to hear from anyone who knows of a different way to do it.

You may be thinking of niello, which IIRC is an alloy of silver, sulfur, copper, and lead that was fired onto a surface followed by polishing away the high parts. The niello that remains in the lower areas (previously cut or engraved into the surface) is black, and the surface beneath that is revealed on the high spots by polishing can be silver or copper (this was frequently used on guard and pommel decorations from the Viking era).

[Sweany]

pewter would work that way melting temp of pewter is 425 f. There is a product called silver pewter.




silver is more in the 1200 depending on the alloy

Melt temp silver

Dental fillings are a mercury/silver amalgam

Amalgam alloy %

Wire inlay however is entirely different and done with a chisel specific to the size wire you are useing.

goldsmithing but this shows the principal of the undercut, then the wire is pounded in lightly and filed ground smooth.




Like this one

Goldsmithing

Here's a fine example of wire inlay

Fred Ott twisted vines

Oh yeah metal clay, fires at about 900 degree's would work for fittings and guards maybe.

Metal Clay


Just some stuff to get that grey matter motivated

[McAhron]

Thank you MSTU and Sweany.
MSTU niello is the process i was looking for,now that i know the name i will be able to research it more thoroughly.
Sweany you have given me some cool ideas,been wanting to fool around with pewter for awhile now.

[J.Arthur Loose]

My senior thesis in college was a survey of niello recipes & techniques. It's up on my web site in the 'Studio,' section. Feel free to e-mail any questions...

[mstu]

Jon, I just saw your paper, looks like a comprehensive introduction! I'd be curious to hear of any experiences you may have had since then with doing niello on sword furniture; I'm also curious how they made the tiny silver and copper lines on some of the Viking pieces; for example, was it all mechanically bonded in some way or is it a fusion weld of some kind? I think I have read that it was all mechanically attached, but I'm not sure how this could be done. I understand pressing a wire in a groove, but how do you cover a whole surface with what look like little pieces of wire?

[Fox Creek]

mstu, I have wondered the same thing, about inlaying the small bands of contrasting metal so they cover the base metal completely. I tend to think that slots were sawn or chiseled into the base metal; as close together as you can get; the slots pecked up in the bottom and sides with a sharp punch or chisel, and then strips of metal peened into the slots; brass alternateing with tin for example, If you peened very carefully, and had just enough metal, the tops of the strips could spread and meet concealing the base metal. You could use a rounded nose punch to fuller the metal and spread it with some control, and then file flat. J. , how was it really done?

[J.Arthur Loose]

Well, I've seen some that were inlaid mechanically, and some that were "damascened". Damascening is a process where a piece of steel is hit with a graver or something similar repeatedly so that many small sharp barbs are raised. Onto this a soft metal such as silver is hammered so that the barbs dig into the silver and as they are forced down, lock onto the silver. This process was often used on nielloed arms & armor since niello doesn't really fuse to straight iron / steel too well.

There's a great Viking sword on display in the Metropolitan Museum that demonstrates both techniques on the hilt & pommel.

One of these days I'll get to making some...

[McAhron]

Jonathan awsome research,awsome web site,thank you