I'm getting a scroll saw for Christmas (but I'm not supposed to know
about it, so don't tell my wife I told you...), and I'm already
starting to dream up my next project...

I want to build a poker table, and I was thinking that a nice touch
would be to do some inlay of the four suits around the table. I have
never worked with a scroll saw before, but I imagine even with a
scroll saw and a skilled hand it's very hard to make the two sides of
an inlay line up perfectly so there's no visible gap..

I was wondering if it was possible to just do the female part of the
inlay, and fill in the rest with some sort of putty (like
woodfiller), and then sand it smooth once dry. I would finish it
with polyurathane. The filler doesn't have to look like wood (in
fact if I could get a shiny black/red finish, so much the better).

The area to be filled would be the four suits, each about three inches
high. The inlay would be done using 1/4 inch stock, so it's not very
deep.

If anyone has done anything like this with either positive or negative
results, I'd love to hear about it.

John

julvr wrote:
I'm getting a scroll saw for Christmas (but I'm not supposed to know
about it, so don't tell my wife I told you...), and I'm already
starting to dream up my next project...

I want to build a poker table, and I was thinking that a nice touch
would be to do some inlay of the four suits around the table. I have
never worked with a scroll saw before, but I imagine even with a
scroll saw and a skilled hand it's very hard to make the two sides of
an inlay line up perfectly so there's no visible gap..

I was wondering if it was possible to just do the female part of the
inlay, and fill in the rest with some sort of putty (like
woodfiller), and then sand it smooth once dry. I would finish it
with polyurathane. The filler doesn't have to look like wood (in
fact if I could get a shiny black/red finish, so much the better).

The area to be filled would be the four suits, each about three inches
high. The inlay would be done using 1/4 inch stock, so it's not very
deep.

If anyone has done anything like this with either positive or negative
results, I'd love to hear about it.

John



http://marquetrysociety.ca/

Have a look at Marquetry for the appropriate techniques...

Set your saw at a sight angle and then go around the cutout such that
the bottom is slightly narrower than the "top" of the piece -- so that
it fits in snuggly. Snap in carefully and...

Also see Intarsia techniques...

Depends on how accurate you want it to be.

Lee Valley has some good books on the topic.

Any type of inlay is kinda fun actually... The scroll saw turned out to
be handy for inlay and very fine work.

Enjoy yourself!



--
Will R.
Jewel Boxes and Wood Art
http://woodwork.pmccl.com
The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those
who have not got it.€? George Bernard Shaw