any advice turning sterling silver inlays?

[artistwood]

i am working on a very high end blank that is using sterling silver inlays (bands) at both ends. has anyone had experience with this? i use HSS tools and have a large Lacer radiused skew. normaly i would just go ahead and proceed but trashing this blank isnt an option and is very improtant to me. ALL suggestions welcomed.......bear

 

[marcruby]

Use very sharp tools. And very light, controlled cuts. Personally I prefer higher hardness tools than HSS and tools smaller than the big lacer skew. Thompson has a nice 3/4 skew, that I use, that does very well, but it's a bit pricy. I also like bitshird's (Ken Ferrell) carbide tool. As a matter of fact I'll be trying his new one out tomorrow on some silver inlays. I use 26 and 28 gauge silver. Any thinner and it can bend on a catch and much thicker and it gets harder to cut.

Marc

 

[workinforwood]

I don't know if a magnet will pick up silver, but if it does, I'd attach a good magnet to a board behind the blank so it recovers as much silver as possible. That stuff is not cheap.

 

[barrels]

I would do a test run with lesser quality materials and I would consider using a metal lathe with controlled cutting ability. I look forward to seeing your finished pen.


good luck

 

[bitshird]

Sterling should cut better than aluminum, it has a better shear property, I would definitely use the sharpest tool you can lay your hand on, HSS will do the job, but sharp micrograin or sub micrograin carbide will work better, also use a smaller cutting shear surface, a small skew will give you a better chance of cutting the metal with out pulling the inlay free of the parent material,of course this is just an educated guess, I've done silversmithing and tool and die work for about 35 years for one and 40 for the other.
and since it's non ferrous, a magnet won't work, and at about 16.00 an ounce for sheet, I'd try and save as much as possible.
good luck

 

[luke39uk]

Sterling silver behaves like Copper when turned on a metal lathe.I only turn "hard" sterling silver (Which has been heat treated and hardened in order that it machines well) as ordinary sterling silver will distort when you try to turn it.
Sterling silver is similar to Copper as it gets hot when you machine it on a metal lathe unless you use a coolant.And once again like Copper, you need a high rake angle on your metal lathe cutting tool in order to ensure a good finish.
Luke.

 

[artistwood]

i don't have a metal lathe but tried all your suggestions.....i have destroyed this thing three times (the tube and ivory, not the silver). i think i'll name it the phoenix! at one point it was almost to size then....................BOOM! the ivory band shattered.........the doctor says i'm not to stress.........the doctor obviously never turned a pen.....
all your suggestions have been very helpful. i have about 1/64" left to go but i thought i would come in and rant a little. i can't wait to get this thing done! on the upside, it's a good excuse to get a metal lathe!!!
thanks to everyone. if i figure out the picture process, i'll post a pic when it's done.........bear

as of 2 hours after posting this, i completed the hardest part of this blank. now for the next step......i'll let y'all know how it turns out....