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| INLAYING METAL SHEETS |
V.Ryan © 2021 |
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Opposite is a nickle silver sheet with an inlay of copper.
There are two ways to manufacture this lid for a jewellery box.
The first technique, is to cut out the shape from the middle of the backing / main piece, using a piercing saw. A Hegner fretsaw with a fine metal cutting blade, can also be used. Tidy up the ‘rectangular’ shape with a needle file.
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| Put pallions of solder on top of a bottom sheet, ensuring that it has been cleaned and fluxed. Rest the top sheet on the bottom sheet. Heat with a gas torch until the solder flows, forming a ‘line’ of solder around the join / edge. This is called ‘sweat soldering’. The metal is then cleaned in a pickling bath etc.... ready for the next stage. |
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| Using a punch and carefully delivering taps from the hammer, undercut the edge, forming an angle. Alternatively, before soldering, use a file to produce the angle along the inner edge of the top sheet. |
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Cut out a piece of annealed copper, so that it fits accurately, into the rectangular slot. The copper should be slightly thicker than the recess it fits into, standing above the surface. A wooden mallet may be needed, to tap the copper in position. |
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Either, place a metal block on the copper and firmly tap round it, forcing the copper into the dovetailed edge.
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Use a flat punch to tap around the edge of the copper, again pressuring the copper into the angled edge.
Clean up the surface with a file, abrasives and finally polishing. |
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| An alternative method of manufacture, is to use a single sheet, from which a rectangular area is etched out to a certain depth, OR cut / carved out using gravers and punches. This avoids the need to ‘sweat solder’ two sheets together. However, it can take much longer to complete. |
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