# Some interesting inlay work...



## Hamlin (Dec 25, 2005)

Here's another link from Youtube. This is a 45+min vid. Kinda interesting and yet makes me cringe at some of the method being shown.

http://www.youtube.com/watch_videos...,eB_K4vEUcLM,hRUx3wlFJBw&type=1&no_autoplay=1

Ooops, thanks Harry.


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

It's good to see you back Ken, however, the time away seems to have made you forget to post the promised link! I hope you're having a very pleasant Easter.


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## Hamlin (Dec 25, 2005)

harrysin said:


> It's good to see you back Ken, however, the time away seems to have made you forget to post the promised link! I hope you're having a very pleasant Easter.


Thanks Harry , I added the "forgotten link".


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Ken

THANKS,,That's a great how to link, I like that part about the sand,that's a new one for me ..

I use the scroll saw for all the work,that way I know for sure all the parts will fit.
I wish I had that much control over the router like he has.  so to say I have a inlay on both sides of the board  so to speak... 
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1/16" router bit

Amazon.com: Freud 04-096 1/16-Inch Diameter by 1/4-Inch Double Flute Straight Router Bit with 1/4-Inch Shank: Home Improvement

Amazon.com: Magnate 1956 Straight Router Bits - 1/16" Cutting Diameter; 1/4" Cutting Length; 1/4" Shank Diameter: Home Improvement

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Hamlin said:


> Thanks Harry , I added the "forgotten link".


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## Hamlin (Dec 25, 2005)

Hi Bj,

You're welcome my friend. Did you notice how he held the router? I'm wondering if "ski's" wouldn't have worked better.


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Ken

yep, I did see that,I have tried that b/4 but with a light router I may try it his way with a tank of a router, that made a lot of sense  I don't think the ski jig would help on that type of job...

Just one more inlay video ▼
http://brianhavens.us/resource/router-inlay-basics

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=1243&filter=inlays
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Hamlin said:


> Hi Bj,
> 
> You're welcome my friend. Did you notice how he held the router? I'm wondering if "ski's" wouldn't have worked better.


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## tigerhellmaker (Sep 13, 2009)

YouTube - sdgood's Channel


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## rwyoung (Aug 3, 2008)

Marc does bring up some good points on finding your own degree of comfort. With a large router (the Festool being on the small end of the large router scale) it should be reasonably safe to hold low. But you are putting your hands in the path of a snapped bit. Skis or a larger sub-base with peg handles might be better. For me, my ski jig worked great for some carving. This was because I was relieving so much of the background, the router base would not be fully supported otherwise.

And Harry had some good posts in the ski threads about mounting worklights and a magnifier on the skis. That would be a good idea here, you could have a pair of safety glasses on and still get the magnification right at the bit.

When I last did some carving with my router I was OK without the magnification but because I was putting my face right down there I decided to go with the glasses plus face-guard just in case a chip flew out. I didn't want a small chip hitting my cheek and making me flinch. The only thing missing was rigging a hose up on my skis to do some vacuuming of chips. Instead I stopped frequently to dust them out.

As to the small bits, I got some great ones from Think and Tinker (precisebits.com). Sold as "2 flute fish-tail end mills". They are 1/8" shank but you have the choice of letting T&T press on a 1/4" collet adapter, using a 1/8" adapter in your chuck or for some routers they will sell you a 1/8" collet. I went with the 1/4" adapters pressed onto the bit shafts. Worked great. $10 for a 1/32" plus $3 for the bushing.

An alternative method is to stake in along the cut line with the appropriate gouges (bevel into the waste area), then chisel out the waste. Chisel out to about 3/4 or more of the finish depth, don't sweat that it isn't level. Then use a small router plane like the Stanley #271 or a larger plane (#71 or #71-1/2) if you need more support area and a small pointed blade. You can also make an "old woman's tooth" plane for this job and the blade from a hex-key. But unless you heat-treat the blade, it will require frequent sharpening. Use the router plane to level the area and the pointed blade gets you into all but the smallest corners. Those still have to be done with small chisels, picks or the X-Acto blade. Slower but no flying chips to freak out the safety patrol.


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

bobj3 said:


> Hi Ken
> 
> THANKS,,That's a great how to link, I like that part about the sand,that's a new one for me ..
> 
> ...


Do you understand now Bob why I use a BIG router, so much easier to control.


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

Thanks for that link Ken. Marc really is a great presenter, he knows what he's doing and his uninterrupted commentary is so easy on the ear.
One of these days I'm going to give it a go rather than my usual method of pre-made inlays. I will however use the skis, which are the perfect answer for this operation.


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## g19fanatic (Apr 3, 2010)

great video! shows some really cool techniques. Inlays are some of the first things I want to try to do. Thanks for the link!


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## rwyoung (Aug 3, 2008)

One other thought, somebody mentioned using a scroll saw as did Marc in his video. You could tilt the bed of the saw a few degrees (maybe even 7-10, I should go look this up in some marquetry/boulle references) and make your cuts. This pre-bevels the edge of the inlay piece. Keep in mind that if you do this, it becomes important to saw in the correct "direction" around the piece depending on which way your table tilts.


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## tigerhellmaker (Sep 13, 2009)

inlay 3,5 degrees
relief 6,5 degrees
http://books.google.pl/books?id=ygu...custom+wooden+boxes&cd=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false
Page 28 & 30 .


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## rwyoung (Aug 3, 2008)

tigerhellmaker said:


> inlay 3,5 degrees
> relief 6,5 degrees
> Custom Wooden Boxes for the Scroll ... - Google Ksi±¿ki
> Page 28 & 30 .


That's the ticket!

The idea with beveling the inlay is that you don't have to have a 100% (99.9% will do) perfect match between the relief area and the inlay. The important thing is that the inlay still be just a smidge larger so as it seats down, the bevel wedges at the very bottom of its travel into the relief. 

Too much bevel or too large a smidge oversize and you will break away fine details from the inlay.


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Guys

I must disagree with the angle cut on the inlay parts, most inlay parts are so thin they will snap the edges off or lift the wood up when they get press into place, once it's gone it's gone  a little bit of fine sanding will do the trick most of the time.. 


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rwyoung said:


> That's the ticket!
> 
> The idea with beveling the inlay is that you don't have to have a 100% (99.9% will do) perfect match between the relief area and the inlay. The important thing is that the inlay still be just a smidge larger so as it seats down, the bevel wedges at the very bottom of its travel into the relief.
> 
> Too much bevel or too large a smidge oversize and you will break away fine details from the inlay.


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## toolman10 (Dec 5, 2009)

I really liked how he presented the process he used to do his inlay. Thank you so much for the link.


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## rwyoung (Aug 3, 2008)

bobj3 said:


> Hi Guys
> 
> I must disagree with the angle cut on the inlay parts, most inlay parts are so thin they will snap the edges off or lift the wood up when they get press into place, once it's gone it's gone  a little bit of fine sanding will do the trick most of the time..
> 
> ...


For 1/16" and below, I would agree. However in his video I believe he was working with 1/8" stock. Nor does his design have any terribly sharp arrises to begin with.

I believe that for boulle and similar fine marquetry the tradition was to cut at a slight bevel. However in the case of boulle you would be cutting both the foreground and background pieces at the same time so the bevel really pays off in getting the fit right off the saw.

That said, you can find advocates of both bevel and no-bevel if you prowl around the FineWoodworking archives. There are a couple of really neat Silas Kopf articles and videos as well as other authors.

But boulle is getting off topic from basic inlay...


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