Inlay (with veneers)

[Woody2Shoes]

But cutting and installing 1mm cross grain stringing is a really difficult trick to pull off. ....

I'm struggling to imagine how to do this, other than maybe by using quite a "deep" piece (maybe 40/50mm along the grain) and then cutting it flush once glued in position. I remember a while back you said you knew someone who managed to taper their end grain veneer, I wonder if this is the sort of method they used.

 

[Droogs]

In the Vienna Imperial furniture Depositry, they have an incredible machine made in the 1800s by one of the royal furniture makers. It is designed to slice veneer both along and cross grain veneers. It basically works like a massive kitchen mandolin. will try to dig out the details and post later

 

[custard]

But cutting and installing 1mm cross grain stringing is a really difficult trick to pull off. ....

I'm struggling to imagine how to do this

I know a couple of makers who do this and everyone agrees it's one of those "tear your hair out" challenges.

Cross cutting on any normal circular saw doesn't work, a zero clearance insert is only "zero clearance" around the saw blade's teeth, around the saw plate there's a small gap. That gap in conjunction with the air turbulence around the blade breaks up and destroys the 1mm wide cross grain stringing as it's being cut. I know one guy who did make it work by backing up the donor piece with tape, but then successfully removing the tape is itself risky and time consuming.

The two methods that, with infinite care and patience, can be made to work are these. Start with the widest cross grain piece you can find, gluing up boards if necessary, machine it down to say 2mm thick. Then use a special blade where the teeth and saw plate are almost the same thickness, I'm not sure if these blades are for special materials of for model making but I've seen them so I know they exist. Make a zero clearance insert for this blade, a wooden auxiliary fence, and turn off the dust extraction. Through trial and error set the fence so it's yielding stringing that's a good fit in your 1mm wide groove (I'm assuming the groove is 1.0-1.5mm deep), and cut the stringing. You'll still have a fairly high failure rate, but with care it is viable.

The second method that works is to use a good quality track saw set up on an MFT style table. Instead of a fence you have a stop that gives you the required snug fit, I normally cramp this stop in place and tap it back and forth with a hammer until I'm happy with the fit. The track holds down the work piece and prevents flutter, and the saw kerf in the base board effectively acts as a zero clearance insert. Again, you'll lose a few of the cross grain stringings that you cut, but with care there'll be enough successes to make it viable.

The one factor you do have in your favour with cross grain stringing is that it's relatively simple to invisibly join shorter prices together during installation, so on long runs of cross grain work you can get there in bite sized stages. In that respect it's no different to the way cross grain edging is applied in restoration work.

 

[Noho12C]

Try 20 seconds in the microwave if you can coil it to fit. Or get one of those infra red heaters as they just heat the actual wood and not the air around it. I use both methods and find them very good

Thanks for the microwave idea. Curved pieces would be fairly short, so they should fit in easily.
What do you mean by infra red heater ? The one used to warm terraces ?

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[Droogs]

one of these below think they use halogen lamps instead of heater elements but they heat up just the solid item infromt of them really quick good:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Beldray-EH0197 ... B005S3GWJ2

 

[Noho12C]

Some pics of what i've been doing during the past month. Really enjoyed making those !

 

[custard]

Some pics of what i've been doing during the past month. Really enjoyed making those !

Blimey Noho, you're certainly bounding up the learning curve. Very well done!

=D>

 

[MarkDennehy]

Damn that's pretty! And sand shading as well?

 

[Yojevol]

Can't see the pics. Am I alone in this?

 

[Noho12C]

Thanks guys ! Yes, sand shading. Quite fun to do ! (Though not when it's 30 outside !)

The pics are displayed correctly, you could maybe try with another web navigator ?

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[Droogs]

i just see a no entry sign as well

 

[MarkDennehy]

I like the Steve Latta table corner as well
I have a new project to try that will involve some more stringing and inlay work, but having seen yours I may need to up my game a tad

 

[Noho12C]

The videos from Steve Latta on lie Nielsen website are very good. They have been very helpful. I highly recommend them.

The corner is just a test, made in poplar (to see which sequence to do the grooves). But I highly recommend you to go with hardwood, as softer woods like poplar tend to crush and not cut cleanly.

Looking forward to seeing yours ! (Some new design ideas to steal )

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[loftyhermes]

Can't see the pics. Am I alone in this?

You are not alone, I can't see the last lot of pictures.

 

[Noho12C]

I will try tonight to post a URL link. Hopefully that will work better for you : )

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[Noho12C]

Here is a link to the pics. Let me know if it works !

https://photos.app.goo.gl/U52Bo2kXUDP9gJut7

 

[Yojevol]

Yep - It works - nice work