Replies

1. 
   kc | Jul 14, 2003 04:19am | #1

   My favorite black fill for inlay is to rub ebony dust into the spaces and then glue it with thin superglue. It's fast and it works great. The wax isn't hard enough and always looks like there is a space their. It's hard to get a proxy black enough even with adding lampblack. Also, if you do use epoxy you want to use something like West System that is really hard. The Devcon five minute epoxy isn't hard enough and tends to show with time.

   KC

2. 
   RMillard | Jul 14, 2003 12:46pm | #2

   I use a mixture of earth pigments and hot hide glue to fill gaps. Traditionally mahogany dust or some other wood dust was used.

   I just spread a little hot hide glue on a piece of sheet metal, and mix in the earth pigments. To keep the glue liquid, I run my iron under the sheet metal as need. I spread the mixture with a heated putty knife.

   One thing you must be careful of, when using anything to fill the gaps, is if the species of wood you are using for your inlays has open grain, it is best to wait until the inlay is installed, and has been sealed . This prevents the filler from lodging in the open pores.

   Traditionally inlays were filled from the back. Today’s thinner veneers do not make filling from the back very practicable. I make my inlays on a veneer background, with the grain running at right angles to the predominate grain direction in the face.