On Mon, 22 Nov 2004 10:13:54 -0700, "James \"Cubby\" Culbertson"
wrote:

Hiya,
Considering adding inlays to my toolbox of skills. I've never done them
before so have a few questions. I see David Mark's approach
on DIY is to cut them with a scrollsaw and rout out the receiving wood with
a 1/16" router bit. I'm wondering if other's use a different
approach (ie. dremmel tool to remove waste, coping saw to cut the inlay
etc....). I'd very much like to try this but don't want to pony up to
buy a scrollsaw that will probably get used twice a year. And quite
frankly, the thought of using my router to do intricate work like that
scares
me a bit

I cut mine out with the bandsaw, leaving a little extra all the way
around until I've got the recieving (mortise?) excavated. When I've
done this, I just use a couple of good sharp chisels, and pare small
curls of wood away very carefully, and check frequently. For curves,
I'm sure a scalpel would work nicely, but an X-acto knife works ok
too. I like to leave the inlay a little thicker than the mortise so
that I can scrape the smaller inlay down, rather than trying to get
the entire piece down to the level of the inlay. I haven't tried out
the Dremel for this yet- I've had one for years, and I've never found
it to be any good for cutting wood, but I may just not have a light
enough touch.

Good Luck!



Cheers,
cc


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