So .... metal inlaid in birch bark?

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Skie_M

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I just spent a little while expanding my edification and came across this gem ...

A blade of ancient Finnish design, called a "Sheath Knife".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLnqr6IGVgs

The handle is what interests me .... they take layers of birch bark, much like how you would take layers of leather for a hammer grip (in some really nice top end hammers) and it gets sandwiched in place for the handle. Then, they take thin strips of metal (silver or brass) and make patterns of them to hammer directly into the birch bark .... they want to penetrate at least 4 to 5 millimeters to ensure it won't just fall out ... the excess is then filed off.

They apparently like to stain or enamel or lacquer the birch bark as the background, and file the metal inlay to bring it through the color... the results are quite gorgeous.

Has anybody attempted to make a PEN using such techniques?

I mean, seriously ... take a bunch of birch bark or leather or even colored (black!!)cow leather, sandwich it on a brass barrel, put it on a mandrel and turn it down (or TBC), and then inlay metal strips into it of whatever desired design?

Lacquer could then be applied, or you could leave it natural (or whatever color the leather was) and then finish to preserve and protect the metal as well as the natural material from the wear and tear of everyday use.
 
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mredburn

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I do know that there have been pens made of leather by cutting discs or squares, gluing them in a stack, drilling those and gluing them on a tube, turning them down and making a pen, I do not remember anyone embellishing them in such a manor.
 

dogcatcher

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I have never tried the metal inlay on a pen, but have done it on rifle stocks. My suggestion is to study and practice the technique. You can buy brass bezel wire for the inlay at Rio Grande Jewelry Supply. https://www.riogrande.com/product/brass-1-8-strip-1-lb-spool-24-ga-dead-soft/130461 They have or had other thicknesses, I think I used a 1/4" wide wire, forget the thickness.

You have to make your own chisels to cut the groove to put the wire in. You are not removing wood, only cutting the fibers to stick the flat wire into. When you wet the wood the wood fiber will expand and lock onto the flat wire inlay. It is also best to rough sand the flat wire to give the wood something to grip onto.

I made my chisels out of hacksaw blades and used wood for the handle. You will find pics on Google images of some of the pro's chisels. There is a good tutorial on one of the knifemaking forums.
 

dogcatcher

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A name to search for is "Joe Keesler wire inlay", he has a video out showing the technique.


Here are some chisels that I made using an Xacto knife handle. I cut the handle shorter and made a wood handle for it. The Xacto blade is then ground to shape for cuttingthe inlay channel. For the curved blades, I used hacksaw blades and added handles.
 

dogcatcher

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I failed to add that in my opinion, a pen is too small and the curved surface will make it extremely difficult to inlay wire like it was done on the knife. Go back to the knife, and you will notice that area where the inlay was done is relatively flat with only a slight curvature in the handle. If you search Google for example of pics of wire inlay, you will see that most inlays are done on flatter surfaces.

Another thing, if you do not have a lot of patience, find something else, this requires a lot of patience. You better practice for a while with brass flat wire for inlay. A few homemade chisels and a few foot of brass flat wire, won't cost much, and it will give you an idea if you really want to pursue this art.

It also requires the ability to draw out the designs. Most of the better inlays will have a series of ornate scrolls/ They look easy, but getting the scrolls without flat spots isn't as easy as it looks.
 

Scott

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That was a very interesting video! It made me want to go to Finland and watch them make a knife for me!

As for making a pen in this manner, I think it could be done, but you're going to face some difficulties that are probably obvious to you at this point. The material you would inlay the metal into is much thinner and much more rounded. You would need a steel insert to slide the tube onto so that you wouldn't collapse the tube while you work the inlay into the material.

This also makes me wonder if some of our casters could solder the metal inlay material to the tube, and then cast around it so that when you turn it, it would expose the inlay pattern. Just wondering.

I really enjoyed the video and the thought process that went in to envisioning a pen made in this manner! Thanks for posting this!

Scott.
 

Curly

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Were I to try it I would turn a blank round and inlay it sufficiently deep enough to drill, add the tube and turn to size later. Fun part would be the drilling without it coming apart so to prevent that I would wrap cloth and CA it.

I watched a guy inlay silver wire and pins into a flintlock stock. He incised his line with a very small thin chisel. Took silver wire/ribbon and drew it through a barely open pair of scissors to score and taper it. Worked a little white glue into the line and hammered the wire/ribbon into the wood. Then he filed it flush and went on to the next piece.


Soldering the metal to the tube and casting after would be an interesting approach to take.

Glad I watched the video. I usually don't bother with them as many are time wasters with little to teach.
 
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