Inlay work
- Thread starter Jaxon
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koshersteel
Junior Member
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- 190
check out Larry Robinsons book on doing inlay, I think he also has some videos.
Think of the inlay work as 4 distinct operations.
1: cutting out the inlay: for this you will need a small jewelers saw and the material to be cut. draw or trace out the shape you want to cut and glue it to the inlay piece with a glue that will let go easily (watered down titebond or hide glue). Some people use a little jig that is hard to describe but shown in the robinson book to make cutting out easier. Also, sometimes a small aquarium air pump is used to blow away dust as you cut. Shell and Abalam dust is toxic so be sure to wear a quality dust mask.
2: routing out the inlay pocket: take the inlay you cut out and place it over where you want it to be. trace around the inlay with a very fine pencil (that you can see against the wood). Next get a dremel style tool with a router base and a fine bit and cut out the space where you want to inlay the piece. go NO DEEPER than the thickness of you inlay material and maybe even leave the inlay about .01" proud. If you have a very large inlay (trapezoid, etc.) than you may want to start with a 1/8"-1/16" bit before switching to a smaller bit (1/32" or so) to do and points or corners.
(to be continued)
Think of the inlay work as 4 distinct operations.
1: cutting out the inlay: for this you will need a small jewelers saw and the material to be cut. draw or trace out the shape you want to cut and glue it to the inlay piece with a glue that will let go easily (watered down titebond or hide glue). Some people use a little jig that is hard to describe but shown in the robinson book to make cutting out easier. Also, sometimes a small aquarium air pump is used to blow away dust as you cut. Shell and Abalam dust is toxic so be sure to wear a quality dust mask.
2: routing out the inlay pocket: take the inlay you cut out and place it over where you want it to be. trace around the inlay with a very fine pencil (that you can see against the wood). Next get a dremel style tool with a router base and a fine bit and cut out the space where you want to inlay the piece. go NO DEEPER than the thickness of you inlay material and maybe even leave the inlay about .01" proud. If you have a very large inlay (trapezoid, etc.) than you may want to start with a 1/8"-1/16" bit before switching to a smaller bit (1/32" or so) to do and points or corners.
(to be continued)
koshersteel
Junior Member
- Messages
- 190
3: gluing the inlay: if your pocket is perfectly cut with no gaps then you just insert your inlay and glue it in with either superglue or epoxy. the truth is that there will be gaps and they arent pretty so here's what you do. get some sawdust that matches the wood being inlaid (you just made some while you were pocketing) and either mix it with epoxy to create a slurry that fills the gaps when you glue in the inlay or fill the gaps with sawdust and wick in extra thin superglue which will solidify the dust into a solid. the more you can clean up now the easier it will be later. use a shop paper towel (the blue kind) wetted w/ a little bit of alcohol to clean up the epoxy. I think (don't quote me on this) that a shop towel wetted w/ a little acetone will will wipe up the superglue but you have to be very fast.
4: leveling the inlay: once the glue is dry you will have to level the inlay so that it is flush with the surface. This is generally done by sanding though sometimes a razor blade is used to chip away dried glue.
guitars are very expensive to practice on, so are exotic hardwoods and shell. get yourself some scrap wood and practice inlaying on that until you are confident enough to work on a instrument. also, have fun, inaly is one of those things where the concept is simple and the application is endlessly amazing. Cheers,
4: leveling the inlay: once the glue is dry you will have to level the inlay so that it is flush with the surface. This is generally done by sanding though sometimes a razor blade is used to chip away dried glue.
guitars are very expensive to practice on, so are exotic hardwoods and shell. get yourself some scrap wood and practice inlaying on that until you are confident enough to work on a instrument. also, have fun, inaly is one of those things where the concept is simple and the application is endlessly amazing. Cheers,
Nightclub Dwight
Hero Member
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- 689
Good luck with this undertaking. I admire people who can do this type of detail work. Way beyond my abilities. :icon_thumright:
