{"id":4840,"date":"2016-11-26T14:04:56","date_gmt":"2016-11-26T22:04:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/?p=4840"},"modified":"2019-01-24T12:11:53","modified_gmt":"2019-01-24T20:11:53","slug":"viking-dragon-pendant-tutorial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/?p=4840","title":{"rendered":"Viking Dragon Pendant Tutorial"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Titanium_Viking_Dragon_Pendant_Tutorial_35\"\"Titanium_Viking_Dragon_Pendant_Tutorial_34\"<\/a>\"Titanium_Viking_Dragon_Pendant_Tutorial_1\"<\/a>Here’s how a Viking dragon pendant design begins. I established the top half (dragon head) first with pencil, followed by inking, scanning and Adobe Photoshop cleanup. Then I tailored the lower half (dragon body) to the head. Above, the basic design is about half complete.<\/p>\n

\"Titanium_Viking_Dragon_Pendant_Tutorial_2\"
\nFleshing out the details on the titanium Viking Dragon Pendant. I typically add to complex designs like this in increments, with lots of editing in between\u2026notice the center image has a much different bottom to the Celtic knotwork than the version on the left.<\/p>\n

\"Titanium_Viking_Dragon_Pendant_Tutorial_3\"
\nMaking the eighth inch thick Grade 2 titanium blank for the Viking Dragon Pendant. Sawing it out on the bandsaw. With a decent bi-metal bandsaw blade (I have a Starrett), this little Harbor Freight hunk-of-junk actually does a very credible job, sawing eighth inch thick titanium quickly and easily.<\/p>\n

\"Titanium_Viking_Dragon_Pendant_Tutorial_4\"
\nGrinding and filing the edges true.<\/p>\n

\"Titanium_Viking_Dragon_Pendant_Tutorial_5\"
\nHere I\u2019m filing a crown on the front surface. The red is Sharpie\u2122 permanent marker, which shows me the remaining low spots. As you might guess, filing titanium isn\u2019t one of my favorite activities. I use a little pitch and glue it to a narrow hardwood chunk and hold it in the end vise of my woodworking bench – simple <\/p>\n

online-pharmacy-uk.com<\/a><\/div>\n

, but very handy.<\/p>\n

\"Titanium_Viking_Dragon_Pendant_Tutorial_6\"
\nI end up by sanding the blank to a satin finish using increasingly finer grit sandpaper, rubber cemented to hardwood blocks.<\/p>\n

\"Titanium_Viking_Dragon_Pendant_Tutorial_7\"
\nHere\u2019s a handy little trick I use to file the edges of the titanium blank – a Jorgensen wood clamp held in the end vise of my woodworking bench.<\/p>\n

\"Titanium_Viking_Dragon_Pendant_Tutorial_8\"
\nNow to get design approval from my client and we’ll start this show…<\/p>\n

\"Titanium_Viking_Dragon_Pendant_Tutorial_9\"
\nI begin by mounting the knife on a hardwood holder (originally designed by engraver Mitch Moschetti) with Thermolock\u2122 plastic. By the way, you can see the transfer on baking parchment in the upper image – I print out a number of patterns (mirror image, of course). It took me three tries to get everything centered properly on this one – and that’s not unusual.<\/p>\n

\"Titanium_Viking_Dragon_Pendant_Tutorial_10\"
\nI got the design transferred onto the titanium Viking Dragon Pendant, and mounted it in Thermolock, ready to start engraving. I use baking parchment, laser printer and dammar varnish.<\/p>\n

Laser printer toner is actually a plastic that is melted onto paper – laser printed on kitchen baking parchment , the melted toner barely sticks to it.<\/p>\n

Dammar varnish is a varnish that is painted onto a dry oil painting for protection – for this transfer I paint the varnish onto the metal, let it partially dry to VERY sticky, then burnish the baking parchment and toner – the toner comes off of the parchment and sticks to the varnish on the metal. Solvent will remove the varnish after engraving.<\/p>\n

\"Titanium_Viking_Dragon_Pendant_Tutorial_11\"
\nThe titanium Viking Dragon Pendant with all of the basic design lines engraved…that turned out to be a lot of cutting! Next, I\u2019ll begin to add in the gold inlays\u2026<\/p>\n

\"Gold_Wire_Inlay\"
\nHere\u2019s a graphic detailing the basic wire inlay process. Should I need a wider inlay, I simply add in parallel wires, punching them down until the seams can no longer be seen. High karat gold (if it is clean!) will readily cold-weld to itself, resulting in a solid metal inlay.<\/p>\n

\"Titanium_Viking_Dragon_Pendant_Tutorial_12\"
\nInlaying most of the 24 karat gold in the titanium Viking Dragon Pendant. Above, you can see the four major steps (numbered in order) of making the pockets for the gold wire inlay. I begin by using a V-graver to make parallel cuts in the waste areas (Number 1 above). I follow with tiny carbide burs to remove the excess metal (Number 2). Once the waste metal is removed, I follow by using a really tiny flat graver to undercut the edges. In this case, the wide areas of these inlays require more than one width of gold wire, so I also add tiny little hooks in the bottom of the inlay pockets for additional holding power (Number 3).<\/p>\n

Above (Number 4), I\u2019m adding 24 karat gold wires (28 gauge AWG) into the pockets, lightly tacking them lightly into place with a small brass punch. The brass punch will flatten the gold nicely but won\u2019t damage the surrounding steel.<\/p>\n

\"Titanium_Viking_Dragon_Pendant_Tutorial_14\"
\nOnce all the wires are in place I use the same brass punch to heavily smash the gold into place. The gold will flow into the undercut edges and hooks, permanently locking it into place. A properly finished inlay like this will require complete destruction to remove the wire.<\/p>\n

\"Titanium_Viking_Dragon_Pendant_Tutorial_15\"
\nIn the image above, you can see the inlay scraped and stoned completely flat. Four more inlays to go, but I’m done for today.<\/p>\n

\"Titanium_Viking_Dragon_Pendant_Tutorial_17\"
\nAll of the of the 24 karat gold inlays are installed in the titanium Viking Dragon Pendant, except the eye, which will go in after sculpting the head. A really tiny line cut around the edge of the gold with a really tiny V-graver (in the titanium, not the gold!) adds definition (see the teeth and claws). I follow the definition line with stippling around the gold inlay to really make the gold pop.<\/p>\n

\"Titanium_Viking_Dragon_Pendant_Tutorial_18\"\"Titanium_Viking_Dragon_Pendant_Tutorial_19\"<\/a>
\nSculpting the head of the Titanium Viking Dragon Pendant. First, I remove the background around the head. I begin by using a V-graver to make parallel cuts in the waste areas (1st image above). I follow with tiny carbide burs to remove the excess metal (2nd image).<\/p>\n

\"Titanium_Viking_Dragon_Pendant_Tutorial_20\"\"Titanium_Viking_Dragon_Pendant_Tutorial_21\"<\/a>
\nNext, I use flat gravers (images above) to begin sculpting the curly-cues on the head. I\u2019ll follow with flat-nosed punches to smooth out the facets left by the flat gravers.<\/p>\n

\"Titanium_Viking_Dragon_Pendant_Tutorial_22\"
\nAbove, the head has been fully sculpted. The final inking will be done with Rustoleum Flat Black Enamel, but these interim (and temporary) blackenings are just black Sharpie\u2122 brand permanent marker.<\/p>\n

\"Titanium_Viking_Dragon_Pendant_Tutorial_23\"\"Titanium_Viking_Dragon_Pendant_Tutorial_24\"<\/a>
\nBit of a chore on the Titanium Viking Dragon Pendant – background removal. Not loads of fun, but the results end up being stunning\u2026<\/p>\n

\"Titanium_Viking_Dragon_Pendant_Tutorial_26\"\"Titanium_Viking_Dragon_Pendant_Tutorial_27\"<\/a>\"Titanium_Viking_Dragon_Pendant_Tutorial_28\"<\/a>
\nAdding a little surprise to the Titanium Viking Dragon Pendant – and completing the background removal.<\/p>\n

\"Titanium_Viking_Dragon_Pendant_Tutorial_29\"
\nNot much longer on the Viking Dragon Pendant – maybe 70% of the background stippling completed. Stippling requires a lot of concentration and attention – not much fun, but in the end the resulting increased “fineness” is well worth it!<\/p>\n

\"Titanium_Viking_Dragon_Pendant_Tutorial_30\"
\nStippling complete on the Viking Dragon Pendant, and the gold eye added. Shading and detailing left to go.<\/p>\n

\"Titanium_Viking_Dragon_Pendant_Tutorial_31\"
\nAbove, you can see the fine shading cuts where the Celtic ribbons go under each other, and the crosshatching on the dragon\u2019s tail. These will really leap out once they\u2019re inked.<\/p>\n

\"Titanium_Viking_Dragon_Pendant_Tutorial_33\"<\/a>\"Titanium_Viking_Dragon_Pendant_Tutorial_32\"<\/a> \u00a0 <\/a>\"Titanium_Viking_Dragon_Pendant_Tutorial_35\"\"Titanium_Viking_Dragon_Pendant_Tutorial_34\"<\/a>
\nThe Viking Dragon Pendant is finished! Two and a half inches tall, in Grade 2 Titanium and 24 karat gold. \u00a0Just in time, since my compressor sacrificed its’ last gasp bringing this Dragon to life! Not to worry, though – new one in by the end of the week!<\/p>\n

Thanks for Looking!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tom Sterling<\/strong><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.sterlingsculptures.com<\/a>
\nhttp:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TomSterlingHandEngraving#<\/a>
\nhttp:\/\/instagram.com\/tom_sterling_hand_engraving<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here’s how a Viking dragon pendant design begins. I established the top half (dragon head) first with pencil, followed by inking, scanning and Adobe Photoshop cleanup. Then I tailored the lower half (dragon body) to the head. Above, the basic … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[28,31],"tags":[3,7,47],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6qLAy-1g4","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1946,"url":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/?p=1946","url_meta":{"origin":4840,"position":0},"title":"Yet More Fun with Titanium","date":"March 26, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Below is a 1\/8 inch thick grade 2 titanium pendant, Celtic Raven Stealing the Moon, a little less than 2 inches tall. And, above, a pair of hairsticks with a fusion of Viking and Celtic-style engravings. \u00a0On the left is \u00a0a Celtic Heron, and on the right is a Viking-ish\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Jewelry"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Celtic_Raven.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4963,"url":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/?p=4963","url_meta":{"origin":4840,"position":1},"title":"Engraving Sampler CRKT Squid Knife Tutorial","date":"March 12, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Above is a small test (rose gold inlay) for a new project - an engraving sampler pocket knife for myself, so I have a sample of my work with me at all times. I made my old sampler knife a fair bit ago, and it no longer adequately represents my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Engraved Knife"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Engraving_Sampler_CRKT_Squid_Knife_Tutorial_4.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3046,"url":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/?p=3046","url_meta":{"origin":4840,"position":2},"title":"Dragonsbane Poniard – Part 7 – The Stand","date":"March 31, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been dreading this part, but since I'm not terribly enthused today about carving steel, I'll make stands for the knives I'm going to present at the upcoming 1st Annual Seattle International Knife Show. \u00a0I've decided a Norse-style dragon head would look good, so I've cobbled together a plan, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Carving"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Dragonsbane_Poniard_43.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1954,"url":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/?p=1954","url_meta":{"origin":4840,"position":3},"title":"Blacksmith Caterpillar Knife","date":"April 11, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's another strange idea I came up with. \u00a0This little knife is based upon a class of knives called \"Blacksmith Knives\" or sometimes \"Viking Woman's Knives.\" \u00a0These come down to us through antiquity, and were generally just simple (and inexpensive) utility knives roughly forged out by the local blacksmith. \u00a0There\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Carving"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Blacksmith_Caterpillar_Knife_4.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1857,"url":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/?p=1857","url_meta":{"origin":4840,"position":4},"title":"Dragonslayer Spike Poniard and Reliquary","date":"October 17, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"My latest major project, the Dragonslayer Spike Poniard and Reliquary\u00a0(and The Project From Hell). I guess you can call it finished, but it turned into one of those projects where it became more abandoned than completed - it just kept insisting that I add another element, then another, then another\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Carving"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Dragonslayer_Poniard_Web_3.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1918,"url":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/?p=1918","url_meta":{"origin":4840,"position":5},"title":"Steel and Gold Dragonfly Ensemble","date":"November 26, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Well, the earrings were popular enough with the ladies that I decided to add a pendant and complete the ensemble. Everything together. \u00a0The pendant is 2 inches tall, and is constructed of 1075 blackened carbon steel, 24k gold, and Sterling silver. \u00a0Silver \"figure eight\" bail and chain. And a view\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Jewelry"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Steel_Gold_Dragonfly_Ensemble_Oval_Web.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4840"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4840"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4840\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5756,"href":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4840\/revisions\/5756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}