Bookmatched inlay how to?

[dedee]

My box is coming along nicely and my attention has now turned to the lid. Having been given a very nice piece of figured walnut along with a suggestion of making a small bookmatched inlay my thoughts are now focused on how best to make the cuts to achieve the book matched affect.

At the moment I think I would like 4 x 1" square pieces which will be inlayed to form a 2" square inlay in the centre of the lid. What I have realised is that the smallest defect (ie not perfectly flat or straight) on the "hinged" edges will be magnified when the two pieces are bought together.

My question is (I think) do I attempt to plane the black perfectly square on the two sides that will form the hinged edges? Or do I cut the 4 slices & then true them up on the saw?

Hope this makes since I'll be attempting this one way or the other tomorrow.

AndyP

 

[Alf]

Andy,

I don't know if it'll help, but it might, so fwiw; try page 24 onwards of the Art Veneers catalogue/manual. I think, if I'm reading what you wrote correctly, that you want to cut the four slices and then true them up; possibly a shooting board would be the weapon of choice? But I'm having a shocker this morning, so I've probably read it all wrong. :roll:

Cheers, Alf

 

[dedee]

Alf, thanks,

The Art Veneers cat explains what I was begginning to realise. Slice the veneers first then trim. What I am going for is the four piece match - wish me luck.

I do not blame them for doing so but I find it impossible to print those Art Veneer Cat pages in a readable form.

AndyP

 

[Alf]

It's probably worth the £2.95 to get the manual if you intend to do any veneer work at all - full of info and not a bad guide to different timber appearances too. No affiliation.

Oh, and good luck.

Cheers, Alf

 

[dedee]

Well my box will not be finished in time. All the construction is complete and the four piece bookmatched inlays have been cut and squared up although the thickness varies considerably. The slices were made on a band saw then taped together with masking tape. I then used the mitre saw (Nobex) to make the final squaring cuts. This was actually much easier than I had imagined.

I hope to be able to plane/scrape the thickness down after they are glued into the lid.

After reading Chris' post on Sheppy Glue I am now concerned about using ordinary white glue to stick the inlays down. If as expected they are any slight gaps, either between the inlays or around the edges, I would like them not to show too much after finishing.

I will be experimenting with some animal glue that my father has when I come back from holiday.

My experience with cutting and squaring up the inlays has made me realise that there is no substitute for "getting on with it". As I have more time to think about woodwork that actually doing it I can almost talk myself out of even trying to do some operations.


AndyP