jeweling

M

manassas dragon

Joined
Dec 3, 2009
Messages
158
i have seen on the bolts of rifles and on the hammers of some s/a revolvers what is called jeweling.
never seen jeweling on a knife iirc. how is it done and does it look good or too gaudy?
 
Many slip joint makers do jeweling or, engine turning as it is also known, on the inside of the liners. It looks pretty darn cool as a background detail like that. I think if you did the blade it might be a bit over the top, and not to mention difficult on the hardened steel. The whole purpose of engine turning was to increase the ability for a particular surface to hold lubrication. This was first done in war planes engines (I believe), hence the term engine turning.

I have several rifles wth jeweled bolts and I think it looks fantastic there, but I don't know if I would like it as a main part of a knife.


-Xander
 
Oh and it is usually done with an abrasive rod in a drill press or mill. Bring the rod down to the surface, let it scratch it up, move over usually one half tool diameter and repete. You can use all kinds of stuff to do jeweling, wire cup type brushes, pencil erasers with a lapping compound, small abrasive wheels for a dremel, and all kinds of other tings.


-Xander
 
Jeweling has been done on metal parts longer than cars or aircraft have been around. You can find this type of finish on fine mechanical parts (like watches or firearms) that are several hundred years old. It serves as a lubrication mechanisim as well as a decoration (as mentioned previously). It has been used on just about anything over the years (there's a Rolls Royce with a custom body of copper that featured jeweled fenders on display at the Blackhawk Museum).

Jeweling is best done on a mill; where you can hold the piece extremely rigid and move it in precise amounts in multiple directions. Poorly done jeweling is among the worst looking things anyone can do to a piece of metal. It is very difficult to do on surfaces that are not flat.

Jeweling is done by using a specially prepared metal brush coated with a polishing compound. As the brush touches the surface and is turned the compound polishes the surface. (Basically you're making permanent "swirlies" on the surface that are a couple thousands of an inch deep).
 
You can buy cylinders of 1/8" and larger in diameter that have bbrasive in a sort of rubber to do this work with. You place them in your drill press and away you go. Don't use a lot of down pressure but you do need a little time on the material. It is commonly used on the inside of liner locks. A common nane for this product is Cratex. Frank
 
I think it would look cool as a polar bear's backside on the flats of a sabre- or hollow-ground knife. Like the others said, I think it might be a bit much on the entire blade. Only one way to find out!
 
I had a couple pics, I thought, in among my 1000 or so knife pictures of a knife with the flats jeweled...but I can't find them now. So a quick delve into the Google realm found these examples:

ken%20richardson%20sc%20bowie.jpg


OsageO1.jpg.w560h420.jpg


pigsticker1.jpg.w560h420.jpg


I think it looks really really good on the flats of the blade.
 
I'm in the Bay Area and I've seen that Rolls with the jeweled fenders. Impressive car and an impressive museum.

I just sold a customized Benchmade AFCK that had jeweled liners. I like it in the right situation.

eisman said:
Jeweling has been done on metal parts longer than cars or aircraft have been around. You can find this type of finish on fine mechanical parts (like watches or firearms) that are several hundred years old. It serves as a lubrication mechanisim as well as a decoration (as mentioned previously). It has been used on just about anything over the years (there's a Rolls Royce with a custom body of copper that featured jeweled fenders on display at the Blackhawk Museum).

Jeweling is best done on a mill; where you can hold the piece extremely rigid and move it in precise amounts in multiple directions. Poorly done jeweling is among the worst looking things anyone can do to a piece of metal. It is very difficult to do on surfaces that are not flat.

Jeweling is done by using a specially prepared metal brush coated with a polishing compound. As the brush touches the surface and is turned the compound polishes the surface. (Basically you're making permanent "swirlies" on the surface that are a couple thousands of an inch deep).
Click to expand...
 
I think it can look cool in small doses. On the spine or a little on the ricasso is nice.
 
It's ok as a decorative touch on the liners/interior surfaces of a folder, but it looks totally tacky to me to see it on the blade.
 
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