Here’s the pendant with most of the areas sawed out with a jeweler’s saw and tiny, tiny blade.
After a lot of filing to begin smoothing the saw cuts (thanks to my lousy sawing skills), I began cutting away the center section.
In this image I’ve engraved a lot of parallel lines in order to lower this surface down.
And here I’ve begun cutting down to the bottom of those trenches with a flat graver.
Above, I’ve begun to smooth out the center area.
Here, I’ve textured the center area, with a small, blunt steel punch. Mounted on a sword, this area would be hidden by ovals of another metal, often copper, but I feel like I have to do something different, since there won’t be any of these ovals on this pendant.
And here it is with a quick and dirty patina, to start evaluating how this will appear when finished. Since shibuichi is a copper based alloy, it will eventually darken, so hopefully this is somelthing like it will eventually look. I think it’s looking good so far…But, lots more to go on this!