I’m hoping to find someone willing to work with me on a design of either knotwork or vines around the outside of my Reviol flute.
Nothing too much, just some curving lines, mostly.
I was thinking paua shell (to match the paua on my endcap), and I know there are “ablams” which are composites in thin sheets - easier to bend around the circumference of the flute.
However, everyone I find with an inlay service online to date is not keen on inlaying something with this kind of curve.
It can be done, but honestly, anyone good enough to do it well, would charge you as much as the flute cost you in the first place. Why? Because unlike most inlay which is going into a surface with a flat top, your inlay will have to go into a curved surface, and after the flute has already been made.
If you have the wrong person attempt this (which honestly, would be just about anybody) you will end up with either many flat spots all over your otherwise round instrument, or you will end up with firewood.
As Hanz and Franz used to say on SNL “Hear me now und belief me later.”
It took two years to complete the inlay, beautiful work. So I thought why not try that on a flute or low whistle.
3D CNC routers can cut the recesses for the inlay but the programming would have to be tested on a dummy flute first, I think. Since genuine shell is not very flexible very small pieces would have to be cut and shaped by hand to follow the contour of the flute. That’s a lot of work. I won’t be getting around to trying this any time too soon.
NAF makers frequently inlay their flutes. Maybe you could find an NAF maker to give it a try.
There are alternate inlay materials which would be more workable. I suspect you would not want them. They involve ground up shell or other minerals and epoxy resins. The guitar trade has used this method for many years, think Rickenbacker fingerboard inlays.
What about silver inlays instead of shell? A knotwork inlay would look good in silver against a blackwood body, especially with silver keywork!
By the way, Larry Robinson did the inlay work on the Martin guitar I mentioned above. He wrote the book on pearl inlay, literally, “The Art of Inlay”. He does do commision work but I would guess he is pricey. Look at the back side of the neck on the millionth Martin. There’s a lot of curve to that surface but still not as tight as a flute.
The following picture is from TIMBER THE FLUTE TUTOR. The flute in the middle has silver inlay. I’ve always thought this was an elegant contrast to the ordinary wood.
The next is the cover of a MUZZLELOADER magazine. It shows examples of the silver inlay on a rifle and tomahawk. I looked for an old article explaining the application of the silver inlay (but couldn’t find it). Basically a simple line pattern is incised into the wood and a silver wire (actually a ribbon edge of a flat sheet) is pounded into the wood and then the protruding portion filed off.
I’ld like to see pictures if you achieve an inlay.
Hmm, one of those looks familiar, now where have I seen something similar before…
Oh yes, on my work bench:
I can’t take credit for the inlay, but it was done in our shop.
The next is the cover of a MUZZLELOADER magazine. It shows examples of the silver inlay on a rifle and tomahawk. I looked for an old article explaining the application of the silver inlay (but couldn’t find it). Basically a simple line pattern is incised into the wood and a silver wire (actually a ribbon edge of a flat sheet) is pounded into the wood and then the protruding portion filed off.
Ahh yes, nothing like taking a hammer to a perfectly good flute…
I guess I can understand the impulse to ornament a very loved object, but I’m of the opinion that a well-made flute is in itself already a thing of simple beauty, and won’t suffer being left as it is.
