Thanks guy for you kind words.
SS336 The wire inlay is done in this order"
First you'll need inlay chisels.
I then take small round pieces of 'music wire" (which is O1 spring steel) and heat the tip up red and forge then into chisels. Stone them on both sides like a metal chisel, not one side like a wood chisel. When the shape is done heat then to red again and quench in Auto Transmission fluid and put them in your oven at 425 degrees for about 1 hour. last I set them into steel or brass rods to use as a handle with slow dry epoxy. That's all my tools are is just hot forged hardware store Music wire.
So to start, first sand the surface to the final grit so you have a very smooth surface to work with. I go to 400 grit. Now draw the pattern you want to inlay with a soft pencil lead.
Use the chisels to stab into the wood about .080" deep. The smaller the scroll (radius) the smaller the chisel needed to make a smooth channel.
I use ribbon cut fro .008 and .005 sheet cut off 1/16 wide so it will go into the wood that deep, but the channel I stab is a bit deeper (as I said above .080" or so) so the edge of the ribbon
doesn't bottom out. That's important! If you bottom out the ribbon will want to fold over on top. Note: You can buy inlay ribbon from Muzzleloader Builders Supply in Idaho rather than make it yourself.
Before you press the ribbon into the channel, run it hard over the edge of a sharp new metal file, like you are curling Christmas ribbons. Do it on both sides. This gives a set of striation running length wise on the ribbon.
Set your inlay into the channel and bend it to the shape you need very carefully. Don't hurry. Make it fit perfectly.
When it's in, take a piece of cotton cloth and fold it up about 1/4 inch think and drench it with water. Lay the cloth over the inlay and take a hot piece of steel (just below red heat) and press it onto the cloth. The steam it makes is 'blasted" into the wood, swelling it shut around the inlay and the striations you made by curling it
are locked in by the steam swelled wood fibers. If done right it is nearly impossible to remove the ribbon after this step and if you try the wood will usually break instead of the ribbon slipping out.
After the wood is dry said it back down to the same finish you started with and you are done.
