men's valet

[steve_g]

Here’s a man’s “valet” I was asked to make… The artwork was provided by the customer. They had seen my turquoise inlay work and wanted green or emerald inlay in walnut, since emerald frit was $3000.00 per ounce, we decided to go with glass frit! I used “Hobby Lobby” stained glass ground up with the same mortar and pestle I use to pulverize turquoise.

I sorted the glass frit into varying coarseness, filled the carved areas with the largest first and then worked up to the very fine powder. This technique gave the finished inlay “depth”

The White inlay is very finely ground Italian marble.
The frit was fused using the super glue technique taught by Wayne locke two Austin bot camps ago…

http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=30231&stc=1http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=30232&stc=1http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=30233&stc=1http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=30234&stc=1

[James M]

Steve,

Very nice work! I like your fancy mortar and pestle.

J

[guitarwes]

Looks great. That tree design is wicked.

My buddy makes the inlay stuff as a commercial product. The turquoise he makes is awesome. Check out a few pics of several different styles on the 2nd page of "Latest carving in a slab" thread in Folder 2016.

[steve_g]

Wes…
I’m unable to get your friends website to open using chrome…
SG

[scottp55]

That's a really nice piece Steve!
I like the overall design and your finish work.
I'm sure it was WELL received! :)

[guitarwes]

Steve, the pics are on the ShopBot forum under the "Latest carving in a slab" thread in the Folder 2016 under the Visual Show and Tell section.

Don't know if you're familiar with Nick Agar, but he's recently signed on as a spokesperson for a good many of his products that are coming to market soon.

[steve_g]

Just playing around with more stone and glass frit possibilities…

Decided I needed to document them for showing customers.

Here’s what I did today combining two types. I filled the void with a coarsely ground stone/glass and then filled around that with a finely ground contrasting color stone.

My wife really likes the black basalt with white marble, looks like I’ll be making some jewelry using this technique!

SG

http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=30319&stc=1

[scottp55]

Nice Steve!
Hadn't thought about crushing to fine powder a contrasting color.
My cat has knocked enough mineral specimens on the concrete floor so I have some ready made Malachite(beautiful vivid green...and inexpensive and friable), and Iron Pyrite (from fool's gold "sand dollars") for me to maybe make a stab at this. :)
Did Wayne Locke ever post a thread on this?
Fun playing around...isn't it. :)

[steve_g]

Here’s a starting point…
http://www.sokolowskistudios.com/NewFiles/misupply.htm
http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/showthread.php?22460-Processional-Maces-on-Indexer&highlight=inlay

I’ll document my take this weekend…
SG

[scottp55]

Ah...Reading material for morning coffee:)
You've been more than your usual big help today Steve...Thanks!
Combining wood and stone(my 2 favorite materials) should keep my interest up now that the firewood is gone(except for the burl) :)
Let's see if I can avoid supergluing my hands to the wheelchair rims again!
scott

[mikeacg]

Steve,
Thanks for the info! Been wanting to try something like that but didn't want to invest a lot in exotic materials. The stained glass idea is perfect as I have quite a lot of tiny glass scraps in my stained glass workshop that would normally end up in the trash but now can live a new life in the wood shop! Some of your combo rounds remind me of synthetic abalam/abalone and maybe be a great 'poor-man's' substitute for my musical instrument projects. Cheaper that ivory, that's for sure!
Mike
http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=30341&stc=1

[steve_g]

Here’s another men’s valet I was commissioned to make…

It’s walnut with box joints, a birds-eye maple interior and suede lining. The Ouroboros symbol on the lid interior is a V-carving filled with glass frit and fused with CA glue.

I’ve started using purchased frit for my inlays as it’s a whole lot easier than pulverizing glass or minerals with a mortar and pestle! Also, an almost unlimited color palette is available.

https://shop.bullseyeglass.com/accessory-glass/frit-powder.html

Several different grits are available… I’ve been using the finest (Powder) as it sands level easier.

If you haven’t read other posts about this technique, you must use “thin” CA glue… other viscosities sit on top of the inlay material and don’t “wet” or soak into it.

SG

[scottp55]

BEAUTIFUL Steve!! :)
Thanks very much for the link for frit too! :)
scott