I wanted to combine an inlay with carving into a peice of furniture my wife would allow into our house.  The carving was done on a CNC router.  The compass star is not the first one I tried; the darker color is padauk and the first try bled all over the lighter maple turning it orange.  When I tried to sand it down, I erased the entire veneer.  That was a frustrating and sad day.  Nevertheless, on the second try, the inlay came out much better than the first one.  And this time I finished the padauk first with a wax free shellac to seal in the oils from the wood.  The compass star veneer was then finished with lacquer and polished.  I added a padauk detail at the bottom of the leg to balance the colors out.  All in all this was a lot of fun to make, and yes she says it can stay in our living room.

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