Replies

1. 
   EdWeber | Jul 30, 2021 09:29am | #1

   Cut the mortise first working from both sides, then match the butterfly to fit.

2. 
   ysu65 | Jul 30, 2021 03:34pm | #2

   I just did butterflies on a walnut charcuterie board on one surface. Never did a thru one however. I cut the butterfly out of stock with the grain in the long direction. That is the growth rings are perpendicular to the waist if that makes any sense. I then shave a tiny bit off the bottom side to form a slight taper. I scribe this reduced dimension onto the cracked piece. I deepen the scribe marks and highlight them with pencil. Next I put a 1/4" straight bit in my trim router and hog out most of the material. Now I go to a sharp chisel and finish the cut to the scribe lines. Finally I add glue and tap the butterfly in. Flush cut saw o get rid of most of the exposed insert then sand down to a smooth surface. The taper should remove any gaps in the joint.

   Good luck!

3. 
   stantheman | Jul 31, 2021 10:18am | #3

   Eagle-America has a router template kit for this if you don't want to do it by hand.

4. 
   grbmds | Jul 31, 2021 01:39pm | #4

   Woodcraft (and Rockler I believe) sells a template kit which is meant to be used with the specified router bits and template guides. I did a number of practice butterflies in preparation for a project which I haven't yet begun. From the first practice butterfly, they were perfect fits. The bits do have limitations on depth of cut so, depending on how thick the Olive Wood is, you might reach the capacity. It might not be necessary to do through butterflies though. Half the depth may be enough to stabilize the wood. Also, since one side is on the underside, maybe place the butterflies on the underside in a different location from the visible side. There also may be longer router bits available (from Whiteside or other brands). The best is that there is no guess work with these templates. They just fit because the guides are matched to the templates and bits.