Inlaying, My tips, tricks, and how too.

[Navybass]

Mods, could you please post this to the FAQ site.

 

 

 

It's not really hard to inlay, just time consuming.

 

****NOTE: Practice on a scrap piece of wood to build up your skills.****

 

List of materials and tools needed

1. Something to put an inlay on. (Like a Bass or Guitar)

2. Inlay material like abalone/MOP (Can be gotten from this guy on ebay. Inlay Supplies )

3. Dremel tool (preferably a variable speed model)

4. Dremel #108, 109 and 110 carving/engraving bits. (Get a few of each)

5. Dremel #565 Cutting guide attachment. (Use as a router).

6. Thin Super glue

7. Toothpicks

8. 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper

9. 000 Steel wool

10. Carbon paper (Used to transfer your design onto wood as a guide to routing)

11. Xacto knife with #11 blades

 

Lets get started.

 

First survey the area you want to put the inlay on, make sure it will fit. Once you are sure it will fit, put the carbon paper between the area and your design. Tape the design and carbon paper to the inlay, this will prevent it from moving. Start tracing the design. When finished tracing everything, pull up the design and carbon paper. On light colored wood, the trace will be easy to see, on dark colored wood, you may want to get a fine sharpie marker and go over the traces on the wood to make them easier to see. Easy part is now over.

 

Next, armed with your Dremel tool with the #565 attachment and a bit, get ready to cut into the wood. You need a steady hand for this part. On a variable speed Dremel tool you only need to go to speed 3, on a 2 speed tool use low setting. Make sure the bit is nice and sharp, if it's dull it will grab the wood and cause the bit to wander. Now, where-ever you want the inlay to go, route those parts out. Route to a depth a little deeper than the thickness of the abalone. Remember one thing, don't sneeze.

 

When that is done, you are now ready for the actual inlay process. This is where you dump out your crushed abalone or whatever and start mixing and matching pieces. You can cut thin pieces with an Xacto knife to make them fit. Once you have some inlay in the channel, get your thin super glue and a toothpick. Apply a drop of glue to the toothpick, then apply it to the area inlayed. Don't touch the inlay itself, as you will end up pulling it out, touch an area just above or below the inlay, the wicking action of the glue will pull it under the inlay and hold it there. Keep doing this until the inlay is all done. If you fill the channel with superglue before puting inlay material in there, you can scrape it out with the Xacto knife. Don't worry if the inlay material isn't flush with the top of the channel, you can use superglue to build up layers and make it flush with the top.

 

Once you're done filling up the channel flush with the top, let the glue dry then wet sand with 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper and finish off with 000 steel wool.

 

You are done. Step back and admire your work.

 

Don't forget to post a pic on HCBF.

 

Any questions, you can PM me.