# My first inlay with a router



## CnA (Dec 25, 2010)

My first post on RouterForums!

Made a cross for my wife with my first project using an inlay bushing. It was made out of padauk and an inlay of curly maple. It's 4 1/2" high. The finish was done first by rubbing on boiled linseed oil, then applying 4 coats of 1lb. cut super blond shellac, then a top coat of lacquer.

The small center cross was made by routing a 1/16 deep, 1/8" wide groove in the curly maple inlay, then filling with clear epoxy mixed with red metal flake. It sparkles when light hits it.


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

Welcome to the forum, Chuck


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## jlord (Nov 16, 2009)

Welcome Chuck, Nice job.


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## Cassandra (Mar 15, 2006)

Hi Chuck:

That's a wonderful crucifix! 

The clear epoxy with metal flakes is a nice touch. Will have to keep that in mind for future projects.

Welcome to the Router Forums!

Cassandra


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## xplorx4 (Dec 1, 2008)

Greetings and welcome to the router forum. Thank you for joining us, and remember to have fun, build well and above all be safe. 

Well done Chuck great job.


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## CanuckGal (Nov 26, 2008)

Welcome Chuck. Looks like your first inlay project is a huge success! Well done.


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## Dr.Zook (Sep 10, 2004)

Very fine work Chuck. I'm sure the wife loves it.


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## BigJimAK (Mar 13, 2009)

Very nice work, Chuck!!


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

That Chuck is a most professional job that I'm sure you're very proud of.


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## darrink (Sep 7, 2009)

Very nice cross, and the red metal flakes accents it very well. I am guessing you started off with rectangular piece of wood and did the inlay first, and then cut the cross out of it? It appears to be laminated. What type of wood do you have sandwiched in between the padauk?

Darrin


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## CnA (Dec 25, 2010)

darrink said:


> Very nice cross, and the red metal flakes accents it very well. I am guessing you started off with rectangular piece of wood and did the inlay first, and then cut the cross out of it? It appears to be laminated. What type of wood do you have sandwiched in between the padauk?
> 
> Darrin


The wood sandwiched between is 1/16" thick maple.

I didn't start with a rectangular piece of padauk. I wanted the grain to run the same direction with the members of the cross, so the horizontal member's grain is horizontal also.

Had to glue two horizontal pieces of 1/8" padauk on to one vertical piece first. Did this twice for the front and back. I just used gel super glue for this holding the pieces on a waxed granite surface plate. Doing it this way eliminated me having to sand down one side flat. I made these about 1" wide with the intent of using a template to route down to the final size of about 5/8'" wide. The added width also gave me working room for the full diameter of the circular maple inlay. Once I had two rough crosses of padauk, I glued the thin maple between them. 

After the rough cross sandwich glue-up, I routed in the maple inlay using guide pins to ensure each side was concentric to each other. The guide pins were placed where in areas that would be routed off in the final size. I also put a 1/16" hole through the exact center of the inlays after they were done.

When the inlays were done, I made a template of the final size out of 1/2" MDF and used double sided tape to mount it to the rough cross, using another 1/16" pin to align the center of the MDF cross with the center of the inlay. Used a scroll saw to rough cut the cross close to the MDF, and then finished it up with a 1/2" flush trim pattern bit on the router table. The 1/2" bit gave me a nice radius to accent the circular maple inlay.

The small epoxy cross covers up the 1/16" guide pin through hole.

Had a big chip out on one end of the cross, so I had to round off the ends a bit more than I intended to cover it up.


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## rejames (Feb 27, 2011)

Very good work Chuck! Especially for your first. Thanks for sharing, I believe I will try this myself.

Sincerely,

Raymond


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