I'm planning a wooden screen to hide the fireplace when it's not in
use. It will have three hinged sections of red oak, each with a raised
panel in a frame. The center panel will be about 18" wide X about 30"
high. I want to inlay an oval compass rose 7 1/2" X 10 3/4" in the
center panel. Here's the inlay
http://inlays.com/8000_11_Marquetry_Compass_Rose.asp
I've never tried inlay before, and I'll have a good bit of time and
money invested before I get to that part, so I want to get it right.

Here's my plan:
1. Glue the inlay to a piece of 1/4" oak plywood.
2. Carefully cut and sand the plywood edges up to the inlay.
3. Use an inlaying bit & guide set to create an undersized template of
the inlay.
4. Use the undersized template to route the outline of the oval in the
panel.
5. Use my router hand-held, with the router table plate attached, to
route out the field of the oval in the panel. Due to the size of the
inlay, I may have to go back to the router table to reach the center of
the oval.
6. Be sure that the inlay is a few thousandths deeper than the inlay
so I'll be sanding the panel down to the inlay instead of sanding
through the inlay trying to get to the panel.
7. Glue the plywood inlay in the panel.
8. Sand carefully until flush.

I'm trusting the plywood to absorb the seasonal movement of the panel
without destroying the inlay. My house gets much dryer than my shop,
so the panel should be in compression instead of tension. Those of you
with inlay experience please tell me if I'm out in left field here.

DonkeyHody
"We are all ignorant, just about different things." - Will Rogers

Sorry for the bait and switch, but I have noticed that the longest
threads are the ones that have nothing to do with the stated subject.
The ones that get the most attention seem to be the religious issues.
Now that I have your attention, maybe you have some advice for my
woodworking question below.

DonkeyHody wrote:
I'm planning a wooden screen to hide the fireplace when it's not in
use. It will have three hinged sections of red oak, each with a raised
panel in a frame. The center panel will be about 18" wide X about 30"
high. I want to inlay an oval compass rose 7 1/2" X 10 3/4" in the
center panel. Here's the inlay
http://inlays.com/8000_11_Marquetry_Compass_Rose.asp
I've never tried inlay before, and I'll have a good bit of time and
money invested before I get to that part, so I want to get it right.

Here's my plan:
1. Glue the inlay to a piece of 1/4" oak plywood.
2. Carefully cut and sand the plywood edges up to the inlay.
3. Use an inlaying bit & guide set to create an undersized template of
the inlay.
4. Use the undersized template to route the outline of the oval in the
panel.
5. Use my router hand-held, with the router table plate attached, to
route out the field of the oval in the panel. Due to the size of the
inlay, I may have to go back to the router table to reach the center of
the oval.
6. Be sure that the inlay is a few thousandths deeper than the inlay
so I'll be sanding the panel down to the inlay instead of sanding
through the inlay trying to get to the panel.
7. Glue the plywood inlay in the panel.
8. Sand carefully until flush.

I'm trusting the plywood to absorb the seasonal movement of the panel
without destroying the inlay. My house gets much dryer than my shop,
so the panel should be in compression instead of tension. Those of you
with inlay experience please tell me if I'm out in left field here.

DonkeyHody
"We are all ignorant, just about different things." - Will Rogers

I think it was "DonkeyHody" who stated:

Sorry for the bait and switch, but I have noticed that the longest
threads are the ones that have nothing to do with the stated subject.
The ones that get the most attention seem to be the religious issues.
Now that I have your attention, maybe you have some advice for my
woodworking question below.

Well, I *did* have some advice . . . .

-Don (doesn't care for bait 'n' switch one bit)
--
"Trust me, there is NO way to nonchalantly conceal the fact that you have a
power tool in your head, no matter what you do." -- El Gato

Well, I *did* have some advice . . . .

-Don (doesn't care for bait 'n' switch one bit)


I didn't figure you knew anyway, but you got the point.

I think it was "DonkeyHody" who stated:


Well, I *did* have some advice . . . .

-Don (doesn't care for bait 'n' switch one bit)


I didn't figure you knew anyway, but you got the point.

The point being that you don't get enough attention at home???

Hmmmm . . . I played right into that one, didn't I?
--
"Trust me, there is NO way to nonchalantly conceal the fact that you have a
power tool in your head, no matter what you do." -- El Gato

Don Fearn wrote:
I think it was "DonkeyHody" who stated:


Well, I *did* have some advice . . . .

-Don (doesn't care for bait 'n' switch one bit)


I didn't figure you knew anyway, but you got the point.

The point being that you don't get enough attention at home???


The point being that I'm lured to several threads every day that have
abandoned the stated subject. I think you even participated in the
highjacking of a thread the other day. Yet when the tables are turned,
somebody was sure to get indignant.

It was a joke, man. Lighten up!

DonkeyHody
"Never wrestle with a pig. You'll both get muddy, but the pig likes
it."

Don Fearn wrote:
I think it was "DonkeyHody" who stated:


Well, I *did* have some advice . . . .

-Don (doesn't care for bait 'n' switch one bit)


I didn't figure you knew anyway, but you got the point.

The point being that you don't get enough attention at home???


The point being that I'm lured to several threads every day that have
abandoned the stated subject. I think you even participated in the
highjacking of a thread the other day. Yet when the tables are turned,
somebody was sure to get indignant.

It was a joke, man. Lighten up!

DonkeyHody
"Never wrestle with a pig. You'll both get muddy, but the pig likes
it."

On 20 Dec 2006 18:38:30 -0800, "DonkeyHody"
wrote:

Sorry for the bait and switch, but I have noticed that the longest
threads are the ones that have nothing to do with the stated subject.
The ones that get the most attention seem to be the religious issues.
Now that I have your attention, maybe you have some advice for my
woodworking question below.

Hilarious, but true.

I'm trusting the plywood to absorb the seasonal movement of the panel
without destroying the inlay. My house gets much dryer than my shop,
so the panel should be in compression instead of tension. Those of you
with inlay experience please tell me if I'm out in left field here.

Sounds like you're on the right track. I wouldn't worry much about
the plywood- I've inlaid solid wood into solid wood several times, and
so far, no issues at all. Some of those pieces are several years old
now, and a few were left in uncontrolled enviroments for long periods
of time (hanging in the shop back when the shop was an unheated garage
with no insulation)

Prometheus wrote:

Sounds like you're on the right track. I wouldn't worry much about
the plywood- I've inlaid solid wood into solid wood several times, and
so far, no issues at all. Some of those pieces are several years old
now, and a few were left in uncontrolled enviroments for long periods
of time (hanging in the shop back when the shop was an unheated garage
with no insulation)

One of the reasons I'm thinking of using the plywood is that the inlay
is so thin. It's only .5 mm, which is about the thickness of two
playing cards. I can't quite figure out how to get a perfect fit
without glueing the inlay to something. If there's a way I haven't
thought about, that's why I'm asking.

DonkeyHody
"Every man is my superior in that I can learn from him." - Thomas
Carlyle

I don't know.

On 21 Dec 2006 05:48:34 -0800, "DonkeyHody"
wrote:


Prometheus wrote:

Sounds like you're on the right track. I wouldn't worry much about
the plywood- I've inlaid solid wood into solid wood several times, and
so far, no issues at all. Some of those pieces are several years old
now, and a few were left in uncontrolled enviroments for long periods
of time (hanging in the shop back when the shop was an unheated garage
with no insulation)

One of the reasons I'm thinking of using the plywood is that the inlay
is so thin. It's only .5 mm, which is about the thickness of two
playing cards. I can't quite figure out how to get a perfect fit
without glueing the inlay to something. If there's a way I haven't
thought about, that's why I'm asking.

When I've done inlay, I used wood from the scrap box and cut it on the
bandsaw to about 3/16" thick, so it was a little different, but what I
did was excavate the recess for the inlay first, then trace the
outline of the cavity with a pencil and paper (sort of like a rubbing)
and then lay the pieces on top of that. Every one got cut just a
little bit oversized, and then I used regular sandpaper to get each
piece to the exact shape and size, dry-fitting each peice into the
actual cavity as I went.

It's a little tedious- but when you consider how quickly the edge of
thin inlay can be sanded away, it's not overly so, and should give you
a nice finished product.

You'll find once you get going on it that it's not nearly as difficult
as it might be in your own mind. I know I was edgy about starting my
first one, but after that, I realised that it is really not that hard,
and as a bonus, kind of fun.

Prometheus wrote:
When I've done inlay, I used wood from the scrap box and cut it on the
bandsaw to about 3/16" thick, so it was a little different, but what I
did was excavate the recess for the inlay first, then trace the
outline of the cavity with a pencil and paper (sort of like a rubbing)
and then lay the pieces on top of that. Every one got cut just a
little bit oversized, and then I used regular sandpaper to get each
piece to the exact shape and size, dry-fitting each peice into the
actual cavity as I went.

It's a little tedious- but when you consider how quickly the edge of
thin inlay can be sanded away, it's not overly so, and should give you
a nice finished product.

You'll find once you get going on it that it's not nearly as difficult
as it might be in your own mind. I know I was edgy about starting my
first one, but after that, I realised that it is really not that hard,
and as a bonus, kind of fun.

Thanks for the reply. I think I like your idea better than mine. I'd
be much more comfortable sanding the inlay to fit the recess than
routing the recess to fit the inlay.

I considered making the compass rose inlay myself from thicker stock,
but when I drew it up, I realized that there are several different odd
angles, which must all fit perfectly. To have any hope of finishing
this project before the rapture, I decided to just buy the inlay.

DonkeyHody
"If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a
nail." - Abraham Maslow

On 22 Dec 2006 06:06:50 -0800, "DonkeyHody"
wrote:

Thanks for the reply. I think I like your idea better than mine. I'd
be much more comfortable sanding the inlay to fit the recess than
routing the recess to fit the inlay.

I considered making the compass rose inlay myself from thicker stock,
but when I drew it up, I realized that there are several different odd
angles, which must all fit perfectly. To have any hope of finishing
this project before the rapture, I decided to just buy the inlay.

If you've got CAD or a similar vector drawing program (I like Corel
Draw for woodworking stuff, myself), you can make pretty quick work of
those odd angles by printing the entire thing out on card stock, then
carefully cutting out the pieces and using them as templates to trace
the shapes onto the wood or veneer. If you don't have card stock,
regular paper works too, but it's a good idea to only draw the pencil
from the paper onto the wood in a series of short slashes, so you
don't crumple up the edges.

After that, it's pretty easy to cut them slightly oversize on the
bandsaw and sand to final dimention as in the first post. Of course,
that doesn't matter much for this one, as you've already bought the
inlay, but if you decide to try some other stuff out, there may not be
a ready-made inlay that you want.