Silver Inlays In Marble

[Pragmatist]

This is my first post, glad to be here.:)

I would like to inlay silver features into marble sculpture. If I pour if will it shatter the stone or discolor it. Anyone doing anything similar? Thoughts, tips or ideas appreciated.

Many Thanks
~Prag

[PTsideshow]

This is my first post, glad to be here.:)

I would like to inlay silver features into marble sculpture. If I pour if will it shatter the stone or discolor it. Anyone doing anything similar? Thoughts, tips or ideas appreciated.

Many Thanks
~Prag

I know from limited reading in the lapidary inlay subject that they are generally not poured into the cavities. They are either epoxied into a very close fitting opening with a contrasting colored epoxy.
Or all the sections have pins/posts like tie tacks on the back and are epoxied into holes in the rock.
If you have the equipment you can route the design into the marble and tap in the brass, silver wire, rectangular in cross-section. And then sanded/ground flush with the surface like they do with the fancy granite/marble counter tops they are pushing now. They use a syringe to inject epoxy before the metal is tapped in. Very little is used.
When pouring hot liquid onto a colder surface you get any moisture in/at the interface, converting to steam in a explosive fashion. Most stone of what ever description, will have some moisture on/in it's surface. Even if only condensation. This will probably produce a condition called spalling were small dish shaped craters form. From the rapid expansion of the material and or moisture.
I also know that most stones that are color treated or dyed. The process entails heat and some form of dye. This opens the pores of the rock if you will letting the dye in. A type of pressure pot can also be used to force it in deeper.:D

[Pragmatist]

PT, Thanks for the reply! That makes sense. I am not suprised, but a little disappointed. I was hoping to just pour it, but had serious doubts that it would be that simple. I guess the next step is to take a cast of the space. Create a mould and proceed from there. I may do some experimenting w/ pouring copper in a piece made for that purpose. I like the contrast look of metal incorperated into stone.:rolleyes:
Great Website. I am really enjoying it!
Any Thoughts, Anyone?

[PTsideshow]

Copper is 10 times harder and trickier to get a good pour than silver gold alloys. run a search we just had a couple of questions on casting copper. Lot harder because of the oxidation factor in casting and the humidity problems associated copper casting:D

[Pragmatist]

PT, good advise. Thanks for the heads up!
~Prag

[PTsideshow]

On making a mold and casting the melt in shape than routing the shape out and fitting it in. You would want the cut out to be deeper rather than shallow. So in making the metal cast piece a little thicker you would be able to place it in and pound the metal flatter to expand it to the sides and have enough to dress the surface of the metal unless you wanted a textured look.But by forcing it to the sides from the center, to follow the outline shape you probably could get away with little or no epoxy.
Some experimentation is in order. You could use the cut offs from the counter top places or that thick floor tile, that way it wouldn't cost as much to learn how to cut the inlay design in the stone. And even using a solder or pewter alloy would give some indication off how things would work a bit on the soft side but the general idea.Then you can move up to aluminum and silver.:D

[Pragmatist]

I had not even considered aluminium because I thought the melting point was pretty high. However, it would not tarnish and may be worth thinking about.
Thanks Again PT
~Prag

[StevenW]

I have a friend who used some copper in a Yule piece to great effect. I think he just softened a sheet and moulded it around and tapped it in flush with a mallet. Anyway, I just wanted to bookmark this thread and see what develops. I'm interested to learn more myself about it.

[Aaron Schroeder]

Alot of artist electroplate......to fill voids. It's time consuming to set up.......but once there.......the effect is awesome to behold. It's on my long list of things to do.

[PTsideshow]

I had not even considered aluminium because I thought the melting point was pretty high. However, it would not tarnish and may be worth thinking about.
Thanks Again PT
~Prag
Melting points:
Sterling Sliver 1640'F
Brass & Bronze alloys
Yellow Brass 1660'F
Manganese Bronze 1945'F
And all the other alloys in between
Nickel silvers and nickel alloys
Nickel Silver 1959'F to Monel Metal 2370'F
White metal alloys
from 128'F 479'F
Bismuth based white metals
197'F to 211'F
Aluminum 1220'F
again depending on the alloy
Copper 1981'F
again depending on the alloy
Iron 2802'F
Titanium 3272'F
Platinum 3224'F
gold 1382'F to 2129'F
again depending on the Karat content and whether it is a colored gold.

Just a foot note these temps are all in the neighborhood. As I have more books than I care to count with temps in them and they all seem to be different. If only by one degree.

[dondougan]

Pragmatist,

The traditional method to inlay metal into marble is to use lead. The relatively low-melting temperature of this metal will not damage the marble.

The traditional way of doing it it is to cut a standard V-cut letter, then drill some small diameter holes into the sides of each letter cut (perpendicular to the V-cut surfaces, or angled to the flat exposed surface of the stone). When the lead is molten (327.5 °C - 600.65 K - 621.5 °F) it is used to fill the V-groove and also the drilled holes, which lock it into the stone. After the lead has cooled, the little bit of proudness due to surface tension is cut-away and hammered/scraped/sanded flush to the surrounding stone. Of course the metallic shininess of the lead will tone down with time's patina, darkening and creating a contrast with the (usually) white marble it is fitted into. A common use for this method is lettering or numbering (monuments, street addresses, etc.)

Tin (231.9 °C - 505.05 K - 449.42 °F) will also work, though a bit more expensive.

Don

www.dondougan.com