Inlaying: a brief tutorial

Hello, folks!

This is a very short and easy tutorial on how I make some of my inlaid blades. It will not cover every aspect of it, only show a small part of the skill set and an easy way to get started with very basic tools.

Well, first and foremost, you'll need some tools. A small hammer, an "edged" punch and a flat punch.





These are the most used and most basic things I use. The punches are made from scrap pieces of 3mm thick 1070 steel, hardened on the work end. Just shape them, put them in front of a torch and quench them in oil (in this particular case, the same oil you'll find in my kitchen). I have to admit I didn't tempered them and they are still useful.

The edged punch isn't actually sharp. It is similar to a very small screwdriver, actually, but instead of a straight edge, it is slightly rounded and tends to an actual sharp edge, but it is about 0,1-0,2mm thick instead of a cutting punch. Works the same and breaks a lot less. Mine one is about 3mm wide also.

The flat punch is a bit more tricky. It looks like a simple round face, but it is better if you make it more like an egg, so you can hold the wire with one side and make tiny incisions with the other if you want to. Also, before quenching, it is god to heat it up to a "forging" temperature and then hitting it lightly on the surface of a stone. It will not be polished this way and will "hold" better the soft metals you'll use further.

The hammers can actually be anything. But as I like to look at my tools and say something more than "it works", I made them following the shape of some Viking Age finds and art depictions. But you won't want a heavy hammer. Go with some lighter pieces of iron, no more than half a thumb.

Well, after you have the tools, you can get a metal surface. Anything softer than the tools you got and harder than the desired wires works. Usually I use low carbon steel or wrought iron on the inlaid parts of the blades I make and soft cooper alloys for the inlays. Avoid using bronze, as it is too brittle and, in some cases, harder than iron itself.



The first step is to put the piece on something that holds it and, ideally, that allows you to change the direction of work. In my case I use this kind of chasing wax over a sectioned ball, but a vise may work the same, as well as some clamps holding the piece on a table.

Then you'd better make the desired drawings on the surface for guidance.

Once everything is ready, you can begin the engraving process. Pick up the edged punch and start hammering on the surface. You don't need to make it too deep. A single blow with a tiny hammer is enough, even if it doesn't look like it would be. Note that there is an angle there, the punch is not hitting perpendicularly onto the surface. Any sensible variation will work fine, you don't need to go as far as 45º, although it would be great, but about 70º is just fine. Of course, if you use a thicker wire, you will have to make a larger cavity with another kind of punch, more like chisels and burins, and then you'll also have more room to get a smaller angle. But in this case, don't worry with this.



Once you have the line finished, you have to go all the way back inverting the side of the blows, as you can see in the picture above. This will make a cut that would look like a "w" in cross section, but with the opening above narrower than it's base. And this is the trick here.

Again, you don't need to hit it hard and with full strength. It is just enough to see (or feel, although many engravers are really against passing your finger over the working surface of the pieces because of the risks of cuts and so) a small deformation on the surface, that looks like an "eruption".

Sometimes, if you want to, you can use a "pin" punch and make the same on the end of each line, so that it will hold the loose end of the wires, but it is not always required.

This is the piece ready for the wire. You can see that it is not only "dug", but also that there are a tiny popped up outline around the cavities.



Then you just place an annealed wire (in case of non ferrous metals, just heat it up with a torch to a dull red temperature and quench it) in the cavity and hold it with the flat tool. For this, use a wire that is just a bit wider than the cuts on the surface.

Give it some light blows and check to see if it is trapped inside the hole or not. If it isn't, cut the deformed part, reopen the cavity with the edge tool with care so you won't widen it more than it originally was, get a wider wire and try again.



If the surface holds the wire, go on hammering lightly all the way to the end of that line, but stop just about 1mm before it ends. Take care with the intersections to not deform the other cavities. Usually I just push the wire in these parts and will only hammer it in place after the other wire is held secure in place.



On the end you need to cut the line. I use the same edged punch, but I don't hammer all the way through the wire, as it can create permanent marks on the surface that will be visible if I want to make it polished. You just go past half of the wire thickness and break it off with your hands carefully.



And here it is. Once it is all held in place, just use the flat tool to pass all over the inlaid lines again, just to be sure and it is a good idea to pass it also over the edges on the base metal.

After that you can do it as you wish. I usually make them polished, but when I make some pendant or rustic pieces with inlaid metals, I just use sandpapers on it enough to see the true color of the inlaid metal.



Here a piece after just a 300 grit sand paper.



And here one of my first attempts on inlaying. You can see the perpendicular small lines on the end of every inlaid line. This is the result of the edged tool used too hard when cutting.

In any case, I hope you can find this tutorial useful.

Wolf teeth pattern

Hello, everyone!

I was always fascinated by these wolf teeth patterns found on Viking Age spears and saxes but the only time I tried to make it before it was a complete failure.

You can take a look on a original here:

Anyway, I decided to make it again, excited due to a video from Niels Provos about it on Youtube. Here are some of the steps:

First, with an angle grinder, I just marked the area on which I would put the "teeth". My cutting discs are about 1,5mm (1/16in) thick, then I decided to use a 2mm thick sheet of mild steel for it.

As it where a bit thicker than the hole, I ground it a little, so it would be both smaller and cleaner to the welding process. It should not be so thin because I wanted it to be held even before the forge welding process.

After that it was all firmly held on the steel bar.

Just before assembling all the pieces together.

Here all the bars. The edge from 5160 steel, then a 2mm sheet of 1020 steel, 2 twisted bars of 1020/1070 and at last wrought iron.

Forge welding it.

After welding it all together I simply made a pseudo-tang to help holding it better. I was really anxious to know how it would look like. Then I ground it a little to see how it was.

And this is how it was after the forging. I have to grind it a lot more. I wished to remove more material so it could reach a level on the twisted bars that would look more than simple stripes. But it is going good for a first try. Even if not so straight as i would wish it.

Sadly it ended with what look like a different steel between the 1020 teeth and the 1020 thin bar on the point area. I don't know if it is due the lack of a heat treatment or if there occurred some carburization while forge welding. I'll take a better look after all the HT.

A friend from Facebook said me to make the initial cuts more triangular next time, so the teeth would be able to put pressure on it's walls too, not only to the bottom. I'll experiment on the next "smiling" blade.

Well, I hope you like it. I really don't know yet what will come out from this blade, but I'm looking forward to work with it soon.