Replies

1. 
   NormInFujino | Mar 21, 2003 12:00pm | #1

   I'd also like to hear what others recommend. I've done only a few, playing things by ear; I draw a design on cardboard, trace it onto the wood, and use a sharp knife with straightedge to scribe the lines; I remove the inside waste with chisels. It works, but the method isn't as sophisticated as a router.

   View Image

   ". . .and only the stump or fishy part of him remained."

   Green Gables: A Contemplative Companion to Fujino Township

1. 
   BrianMcG | Mar 23, 2003 07:18am | #8

   This may be a dumb question but...how do you fill the inlay? Trace the design on filler material and just sort of trim it bit by bit to match? The piece you made is beautiful by the way. Red oak? Brian

1. 
   NormInFujino | Mar 23, 2003 07:30am | #9

   I probably misspoke the first time I wrote; I actually cut the inlay material first, using a cardboard template. After I'm satisfied with the inlay, I use it as a template and trace around it onto the surface of the woorkpiece with a very sharp knife. Mostly chisel work after that, though if I were doing it now I'd probably use a router for the center like other guys said, and use chisels only on the edges. Yes, the piece was red oak, with mahogany (I think) inlay.

   ". . .and only the stump or fishy part of him remained."

   Green Gables: A Contemplative Companion to Fujino Township

   Edited 3/23/2003 12:32:52 AM ET by Norm in Fujino

1. 
   BrianMcG | Mar 23, 2003 07:41am | #10

   Amazing precision...great job. And how is the weather in your world tonight?

1. 
   NormInFujino | Mar 23, 2003 08:07am | #11

   Thanks. Weather here? Hmm, thin overcast with high pollen count! (Cedar pollen will be pretty bad here until the end of the month or so.) At least it's warming up today. About time.

   ". . .and only the stump or fishy part of him remained."

   Green Gables: A Contemplative Companion to Fujino Township

2. 
   Mallard | Mar 23, 2003 10:54pm | #12

   I've been waiting awhile for a thread like this. I'm about to start doing some of my first inlay work in a chessbox I'm building, and wanted to get a few opinions on the best way to go about it. The thing is, I'm inlaying white pearl. The blanks are .050" thick, and I'm wondering how in the world I'm even going to approach that level of accuracy in cutting or routing the recess. How do you cut a perfectly flat bottomed .050" hole in wood with a chisel? How do you even set a router that shallow?

3. 
   NormInFujino | Mar 23, 2003 11:55pm | #13

   I'm just a beginner myself, so you'll have to ask others. But I'd suggest you look around the Web for key words like "intarsia" and "inlay."There are books and other sources there that should help.". . .and only the stump or fishy part of him remained."

   Green Gables: A Contemplative Companion to Fujino Township

2. 
   AlanTurner | Mar 21, 2003 04:01pm | #2

   I'll offer my 2 cents as I do this from time to time.  What I do is:

   First, cut a length of the inlay.  Do this on the TS with about a 15 degree angle, or whatever else you like.  Note thay are cut from crossgrain strips.  Good use of 8/4 offcuts.  While you are at it, make a whole bunch.  It is the setup that takes the time; not the actual cutting.  You can make them any length (depth) you like.  Keep them around in several woods.  White oak; teak is quite strong, maple, etc.  make them too wide, and you can cut them down later if needed.  Then, crosscut off for the depth you want, plus a bit.

   Using a marking knife, mark the outline directly onto the stock.  Then, using a very sharp chisel, mark the outline a bit deeper.  You will need good visibility, but you don't want the bevel of the chisel to push the chisel back from the knife line.

   Using a 1/4" upcut spral carbide bit freehand in a router, cut the waste to about 1/16" of the line.  Take your time, and only take about an 1/8 or so at a time.  Then, using a chisel remove the waste to the line.  Use a skew chisel or a dovetail chisel to get the corners so that they are not damaged.  Using only a chisel makes it difficult to get a smooth bottom on an inlay of any depth.

   Glue in the piece, plane off the excess; and you are done.  If there is a small gap, then use some superglue over it, and using 220 or 320 paper, hand sand for a second or 30 till the glue dries, and your crack will be filled very tidily.

   On a workbench I posted a few weeks ago, you will see one done this way.  It was teak, and structrual; about 1" deep to control a radial check in 12/4 maple. Since it was structural, I used epoxy, but usually yellow glue is fine.  This is not a difficult task if you take your time.

   I'm sure others have better ways, and I will be interested to see what they suggest.

   
   

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   Edited 3/21/2003 12:26:49 PM ET by s4s

1. 
   johnhardy | Mar 22, 2003 02:05am | #5

   Could you describe in a little more detail how you make the actual inlays?

   You talk about 8/4 wood, so I'm thinking you have the inlays coming from the "side" of a cutoff. I'm visualizing here a piece of 8/4 stock with a shallow "V" running across the board on top and on the bottom. You then take this stock and rip it, with the depth of the cutoff the depth of the inlay.

   The difficulty I'm having is figuring out how you cut the "V"s (15 degrees) so that everything is "accurate". The 8/4 cutoff would have to stand on end and be run through the blade tilted at 15 degrees. Do you use a jig for stability? How do you measure the blade height, fence position, etc., to get a cut that is precise enough? As you say, the set-up is all the time. I just can't quite figure that part out.

   Thanks in advance for explaining all of this.

   John

1. 
   AlanTurner | Mar 24, 2003 06:26pm | #14

   If I could only draw.  You want the gain on the butterfly to run the long way; this is where the strength comes from.  To do so, ou need to rip the cross grain.  Hence, the comment about the 8/4 cutoffs.  Many of mine are 10" or so wide., and i would not recommend narrower than about 6".  Yes, it is a bit of a bear to run the stock.  On my right tilt TS, the stock runs between the fence and the blade, which is not desirable.  I use a pusher, of course.  You want the top right of the saw tooth to kiss the corner made when you cut the other side.  Takes a bit of trial and error at this level of required accuracy.  That is why, when I do the set up, I run a bunch for the future.

1. 
   Boxduh | Jun 01, 2003 12:43am | #15

   So, we are into making this table top, and have just broken our second router bit.  I am talking about the 1/8" dia. solid carbide two flute spiral upcut bit with 1/4" shank, as used with an inlay template and removeable collar.

   The bits have broken at the same place each, up on the 1/8" diameter part of the spiral shank, right before the spiral ends and the transition is made up to the 1/4" smooth shank that goes into the collet.

   Is there a brand of these that is better than the rest?  I just ordered two more from Jesada.  The two I had that broke were from somewhere else, I cannot remember where.

1. 
   Andrew | Jun 02, 2003 04:40am | #16

   I use carbide endmills designed for metal working. They're cheaper and you can get better grades of carbide too. I have yet to see a reduced shank cabide endmill so you'd need to buy a 1/4 to 1/8 reducer, or have a machine shop make you one. Or you can use a HSS endmill as they come with 1/4 shanks, but they won't last as long. http://www.mcmaster.com has a wide selection of endmills, however you can find them at any metalworking store. hope this helps

   Andrew

3. 
   johnhardy | Mar 22, 2003 01:38am | #3

   If these are simply ornamental, use the router method you've described. Then use a chisel to square up the rounded corners. When cutting the inlay, the corners will be nice and pointed.

   Edit to add more info - You can use a spiral bit and the depth of the recess and the depth of the inlay can be fairly significant. You mention 1/8th of an inch. You can do quite a bit more than this. Cut the actual inlay from a board that is an inch or so wider than needed. You can make several inlays in the board (let's assume a 12 inch board, with four inlays cut into it). Then turn the board on edge, put it against the fence (inlay pieces on the outward side), and rip the board so that the resultant inlay pieces are the desired thickness. Quick and painless.

   John

   
   

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   Edited 3/21/2003 7:08:38 PM ET by johnhardy

4. 
   Andrew | Mar 22, 2003 01:55am | #4

   If it's ornamental, why do you want to use a 1/4" thickness? 1/8" should be plenty, and it'll be easier to get a good fitting inlay.  

1. 
   Boxduh | Mar 22, 2003 05:29pm | #6

   I think you are right, Andrew.  I was a little concerned that using one of the bow-tie templates with the bit and collar set would produce rounded-corner inlays.  But I layed things out using my CAD program, and see how things work.  With a good setup and a careful cut, one produces a bow-tie with sharp corners.  The cutter makes a mortise for the inlay with radius corners, but a careful nip with a sharp chisel makes the corners right.  But now for the next question:  how does one produce the 1/8" stock for making the inlays?  I am not sure my 12" Delta planer will work stock down that thin.

1. 
   NormInFujino | Mar 22, 2003 05:56pm | #7

   >>I am not sure my 12" Delta planer will work stock down that thin.

   I don't know how others would do it, but I've built a sled to carry thin material through the planer, and also resawn thin pieces with the tablesaw or even CMS (the butterfly sections aren't that big).". . .and only the stump or fishy part of him remained."

   Green Gables: A Contemplative Companion to Fujino Township