MAKING THE INLAYS
This technique is not original: I read about it
in a woodworking magazine years ago.
| The basic concept is simple: cutting a section out of a board will
leave a piece that is smaller than the hole. The saw has removed
some of the wood. |
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| By tilting the saw slightly a "plug" can be made. With the angle
properly set it will fit tightly halfway into the hole. |
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| That's what I do, but I use two pieces of wood held together with two-sided
tape. Now one part of the top piece will fit exactly into one part of the
bottom piece and I can cut out patterns. |
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I set my scroll saw at about 4° for my work. The angle will vary
with both the thickness of the wood and the thickness of the blade.
I use 3/16" thicknesses of wood (that's where my planer bottoms out) and
a .038" thick by .016" wide reverse tooth blade. I feel that the
small area where the teeth change direction helps me make tighter corners,
but it just may be the blade that I'm comfortable using.
| I start the inlay by drilling a pilot hole at the same angle as the
scroll saw blade. A #57 drill bit makes about the smallest useable
hole. |
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| Then I cut out the pattern. |
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| Now I separate the pieces and glue the inlay together. The other pieces
of the wood (half of it) is waste. Some of these pieces can be used to
make ornaments or pins. |
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The result is a "through" inlay, with the pattern appearing on both
the outside and the inside of the box. |
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| Questions or comments? Contact
me |
copyright © 2001 by Marv Buelow |
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