Silver wire inlay in ebony

How do you put silver wire in ebony to create that spotted look? I
have tried drilling a hole in the ebony smaller than the wire and
hammering the wire in, but the ebony split. I also tried drilling
the hole the same size as the wire and beveling it, hammering the
wire in (as you do with hidden rivets), but the circles weren’t
always round and some of the wires were loose. I tried to just
epoxy them in, but didn’t like how it looked after I sanded it.

Any help would be appreciated. Jay

P.S. I am a newbie and I did research the archives first.

    How do you put silver wire in ebony to create that spotted
look? 

Jay, a back issue of Fine Woodworking magazine had a project on
inlaid wire. I’ll try to find my copy. It may not be what you mean
by a spotted look, but the basic techniques ought to be the same.

Janet

Jay, the article was in the May/June 2002 issue of Fine Woodworking,
page 100 http://www.taunton.com/store/pages/fw_toc_156.asp. Haven’t
found my copy yet, but it’s here somewhere…

Janet

I used to carve for patricia von musulin,nyc, and that was one of
her shticks, we would carve the ebony drill holes insert rods,
with some cyanacrylate, or epoxy, of course lightly sanded, then
recarve, actually finish, can’t get too hot, or they come
out(polishing heat, sanding heat), upgrades— glue that can take
heat, thread the rod as was expressed by someone else, pressfit
rods, btw, i have seen silver in some lighter woods(lignum vitae
included), and it is suprisingly, extremely beautiful, dp

Hello, I have a wood carver friend who makes bowls on a lathe. Some
woods have small voids that he fills with silver filings, giving the
finished piece sort of a stippled look. On bowls he cuts a shallow
groove for the silver accents.

He tamps the silver filings into the hole or groove, then puts “Hot
Stuff” glue on the filings. There is an accelerator that is goes
next over the glue to hasten and complete the hardening. He then
completes the lathe work and finishes the wood.

Perhaps this method might work for your purposes. Best of luck, Judy
in Kansas, where a winter storm warning is in effect. The rain and
temperatures are falling; when the ground freezes, it’ll be nasty!

Judy M. Willingham, R.S.
B.A.E. 237 Seaton Hall
Kansas State University
Manhatttan KS 66506
(785) 532-2936 FAX (785) 532-6944