Since the last post I hardened and tempered the little knife, and spent some time getting the scale and crud from the heat treating process off of it.
Now it’s time to add some gold highlights. Above, I’ve engraved a small decorative line, and undercut the bottom on each side. This will allow me to pound some soft, 24k gold wire into the grooves, and the undercuts will let the gold flow into them, trapping the gold. Above, I’ve pounded gold into about half of the engraved line.
Here’s the other side, finished pounding the gold. Now, I’ll remove the excess, and smooth the surface. Once the surface is smooth, I’ll engrave really fine lines into the steel along the edges.
And, above, is the finished gold inlay. Next, I’ll inlay copper rivets into the three holes in the handle, and “mushroom” over both sides so the copper becomes captive in the steel.
And here are the copper rivets. I also smoothed and textured them.
And the finished knife, blued, in my hand for scale.
And, above, the kfinished knife in it’s combination display and storage box.
Look for it soon at BladeGallery.com
Thanks for looking!