I’m sure this is a very elementary question.
I’m making a small end table, of maple, to sit beside my La-Z-Boy chair in the living room. The top surface will be about 16″ x 14″. I want to put a thread inlay on the top of a contrasting wood (African blackwood)–just a 1/8″ or 1/4″ strip in a rectangle around the top, about 1 inch or so from the edge.
The inlay WITH the grain of the maple is no problem, but what about the inlay across the grain? Will the wood movement in the maple be a problem? What can I do to avoid the inlay cracking or becoming unglued?
–Grant
Replies
Veneer the top with maple on a stable ground.That won't ever crack the stringing.Maple moves a lot with changes of humidity
If using solid wood, make the top as a frame/panel with mitred corners. Your inlay will no longer be cross grain.
If you use well seasoned wood and seal both sides of the top, there won't be any problem with the inlay, especially with a top as small as you are building. In my work, I'm divided on what glue to use. I almost always use hot hide glue, but in cases such as yours, white glue is what I'd use. My thinking is hide glue is much more rigid and therefore less likely to buckle in the event the surface did move a little. White glue on the other hand is less rigid and might allow for some movement (I said I was divided). Either way, I've made dozens of inlaid pieces using both glues, with no problems at all.
Rob Millard
Hello Grant, I have built two end tables (about 16 x 22) and a coffee table (about 22 x 44) using cherry with Macasser Ebony inlays and not had any problem at all. My inlays were 1/8" thick and 3/8" wide. I used plain old titebond to glue then in place.
The hardest things that I ran into was getting the miters on the corners tight and the ebony saw dust mixing in with the cherry. Take you time on the miters, cut it long and take a little off at a time until it fits, this can take several cuts.
Thank you all for the good advice. I think I can confidently just go ahead and glue up the inlays without worrying too much. Mike, I'll do as you suggest to ease the mitered inlays in for a snug fit.--Grant
Here's one I did about three years ago and haven't had any problems. The part of the table top shown is about twelve inches square.
Thanks for the picture, Jim. That's just about what I'm looking to do. I see you mitered the top edge--that probably helped with the fit of the inlay. What a beautiful board you selected for the top--I wish I had something like that on hand.
--Grant
You are welcome, Grant. The top piece is actually bandsaw-cut thick veneer from about a six-inch piece of canary wood glued up in bookmatch fashion. It's not that difficult to do if you have a bandsaw with a sharp 3 tooth per inch blade. Most any wood species with a strong figure in it will work to bookmatch. Canary wood happens to be my favorite (centrolobium orinocense) as it has a range of colors from purple to red to yellow and is nice to work. It takes hand shaping quite well, also.
I did a coffee table a year ago for my daughter made with poplar with veneer on the top edges. Tha tabes edge would be somewhere in the nieghborhood of 4 foot on the outside edge and have not had any problems todate.
View Image
View Image
Garry
That's a very nice coffee table, Garry. I haven't done any wood bending or laminating yet, so I can appreciate the skill involved. I believe I've seen that downdraft table before on Knots, though, and it's nice to see it again. Your work is very impressive. Thanks for the pictures.
--Grant
Thanks Grant,
You may have seen the downdraft table in this years Tools & Shops
Good Luck
Garry http://www.superwoodworks.com
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled