Arab percussion for comments

[Mefidk]

I decided to clean this up a bit, make sure there was no rust in the barrel before displaying it on my wall and I made a rather nice discovery. The etched patterns that were visible under the old dry grease are about 60% still inlaid with silver. Not only that but the barrel is, contrary to my first expectations, a damascus twist barrel. No marks on the barrel though, no stamps etc., only the silver pattern.

So far I've only done an gentle etch to bring out the pattern on the top of the barrel where it was invisible. However, now I'm considering darkening it back to what I think is a more orginal colour, and fitting better with the dark wood. Not quite sure how I'll protect the silver though since the etch seems to work best hot and wax or grease resist might not do too well under those conditions. I wonder does anyone have experience with doing this and have an idea how best to tackle it?

[Battara]

I am just amazed at how those original artisans cut into damascus steel to inlay the silver. I would imagine that twist-core steel would be more difficult than mono-steel.

[Mefidk]

I guess it must be hard to cut due to differential hardness. I was also wondering how the silver inlay is held in place - is it put in hot or simply hammered into the recess? It would be nice to fill the missing sections, but that might be a technical step too far for my metalwork abilities (at least without risking damage to the barrel).

The silver pattern and the form of the barrel is somewhat similar to this one http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=13706 although this barrel is much nicer. Perhaps mine was a practice piece before he got onto making libra's gun

Chris

[kai]

Hello Chris,

I was also wondering how the silver inlay is held in place - is it put in hot or simply hammered into the recess? It would be nice to fill the missing sections, but that might be a technical step too far for my metalwork abilities (at least without risking damage to the barrel).

Silver and gold inlay is cold worked - these are soft metals and quite easy to work with (especially, when annealed).

Regards,
Kai

[kai]

I am just amazed at how those original artisans cut into damascus steel to inlay the silver. I would imagine that twist-core steel would be more difficult than mono-steel.

I doubt that these pattern-welded barrels received a heat treatment that would make them harder than decently treated monosteel of western origin. If you can work out a good bore for a barrel of almost 1 meter, the engarving for the inlay seems more like a piece of cake to me...

Regards,
Kai

[kahnjar1]

Originally Posted by Mefidk

I decided to clean this up a bit, make sure there was no rust in the barrel before displaying it on my wall and I made a rather nice discovery. The etched patterns that were visible under the old dry grease are about 60% still inlaid with silver. Not only that but the barrel is, contrary to my first expectations, a damascus twist barrel. No marks on the barrel though, no stamps etc., only the silver pattern.

So far I've only done an gentle etch to bring out the pattern on the top of the barrel where it was invisible. However, now I'm considering darkening it back to what I think is a more orginal colour, and fitting better with the dark wood. Not quite sure how I'll protect the silver though since the etch seems to work best hot and wax or grease resist might not do too well under those conditions. I wonder does anyone have experience with doing this and have an idea how best to tackle it?

Not sure what you are using as etch, but in my past experience, the metal IS better hot but ONLY to the heat of boilng water. That will not damage the silver and if it is a "feric" etch (which it should be) then it won't attack the silver either.
Regards Stu

[Mefidk]

Originally Posted by kahnjar1

Not sure what you are using as etch, but in my past experience, the metal IS better hot but ONLY to the heat of boilng water. That will not damage the silver and if it is a "feric" etch (which it should be) then it won't attack the silver either.
Regards Stu

Thanks Stu - I didn't realize that Ferric Chloride would not attack the silver. So I can manage this without the resist - great.

Added a couple more pictures of the gun this far.

[kai]

I didn't realize that Ferric Chloride would not attack the silver. So I can manage this without the resist - great.

It won't attack pure silver to any noticeable degree and even lower silver alloys will repolish easily. However, the acid will eat away any rust in the crevices and sometimes this is the only hold for old inlay work which then can get loose...

If you work swiftly and take care to kill any remaining acid afterwards (IMHO ammonium based solutions work more effectively than washing soda or baking powder), this is usually not a problem. If you want a bit more safety, you can use a clear lacquer (or nail polish) to fill any crevices and offer so some protection for the inlay and remove this later with organic solvents. If you decide to go this route, I'd suggest to carefully remove any lacquer from the surface as any remaining stains may interfere with the etching process.

Regards,
Kai

[Mefidk]

Originally Posted by kai

If you work swiftly and take care to kill any remaining acid afterwards (IMHO ammonium based solutions work more effectively than washing soda or baking powder), this is usually not a problem. If you want a bit more safety, you can use a clear lacquer (or nail polish) to fill any crevices and offer so some protection for the inlay and remove this later with organic solvents. If you decide to go this route, I'd suggest to carefully remove any lacquer from the surface as any remaining stains may interfere with the etching process.

Sounds like excellent advice, thanks Kai. I'll see if I can give this a go at the weekend. I like the idea of lacquer, just in case. Don't want to lose the last 60% silver