Chippygeoff
Established Member
When I first saw Walney Cols post about using brass plate on his lovely fretwork piece it gave me an idea. I spent hours looking at various suppliers and all were very expensive but I found one that did off cuts in various sizes so I ordered a pile that were 4 inches square. I came up with several designs aimed at the craft fairs, nothing as intricate as Walney Cols fret work as the things I make have to be quick to make to remain viable.
The plates are 1.2mm thick and on the example here I used up 3 number 5 metal cutting blades. I have never really cut this sort of thing before and found the blades don't like tight turns so it was a matter of backing the blade up, making a small notch on the waste side of the brass so I could turn the blade round. I mounted the plate onto a piece of 3mm thick ply, hald the two together with masking tape and then fixed the pattern to that. Quite pleased with the end result. In the pic the plate is not yet fixed to the wood. I will spray lacquer the wood first and then fix the plate with epoxy glue.
The plates are 1.2mm thick and on the example here I used up 3 number 5 metal cutting blades. I have never really cut this sort of thing before and found the blades don't like tight turns so it was a matter of backing the blade up, making a small notch on the waste side of the brass so I could turn the blade round. I mounted the plate onto a piece of 3mm thick ply, hald the two together with masking tape and then fixed the pattern to that. Quite pleased with the end result. In the pic the plate is not yet fixed to the wood. I will spray lacquer the wood first and then fix the plate with epoxy glue.
