The piece of shibuichi I used for the inlay is waaay too thick for my butterfly. Since I have to cast and roll my own shibuichi, I don’t have lots of thicknesses just laying around, so I use what I have on hand. This butterfly is really tiny, anyway, so there’s not really going to be much waste. Above, you can see the carbide bur I used to carve away the waste material.
Of course, no good deed goes unpunished, so above I’m using a small scraper to smooth out the ugly texture left by the carbide bur. I’ve also colored the areas I’m scraping with Sharpie™ permanent marker to cover the annoying shiny surface, and better visualize my scraping.
Here you can see the inlay completely smoothed
, and ready for detailing.
Above, I’ve used a 90 degree (square) graver to outline the body and upper wing. I followed that with a flat graver to relieve the lower wing area.
Above, the same view without magnification.
Now it’s time to begin detailing the wing areas. I’ve colored the wings with Sharpie™ white marker so i can use a sharp pencil to mark the shibuichi (see the two lower wing ovals). I’ve chosen to use a round graver to scoop out areas representing the colored areas of the wing, so I’ll be removing metal inside these ovals.
Above, I’ve use the round graver to scoop out areas in the wings, and a flat to detail the body. Next, I’ll use my little round punch to texture inside the raised areas, smoothing out the striations left by the round graver, and leaving a texture similar to the surface of the scales, hopefully helping to visually unify everything.
Above, I’ve added a little patina, just ’cause I have to see how things are going to turn out…
Thanks for Looking!