Thread: Inlays in wood ?

Hi All,

Can anyone advise how to do inlays in scales ?

I have some ivory from cracked scales and want to try using it for inlays. Just basic diamond, oval, square shapes etc. Do I use a router bit on my dremel, how do you get clean square corners etc...

Any help much appreciated.

Thanks

Gary

If I were to attempt something like
this and I had no one to ask for advise
I would use an Xacto razor knives for
the outer edges and corners.

Just a thought....


Terry

With a real sized router you would use a collar and template to get rid of the material. I don't know if you can get a collar for a Dremel router. To square the corners you use a chisel or, with scales, a sharp knife.

For one of the razors I just finished (viewable here) I experimented with a very simple inlay. All I did was trace out the design in pencil on the scales, and then carve it out with an x-acto knife. It sure was a slow and methodical process, but seems to work alright. I'm not sure how well it would work, or at least the difficulty level for any more complex designs though.

I'm also planning on, at some point, trying the dremel carving bits. Some of them are ultra small and might work well.

bg42 also did some very nice inlay work. Obviously much more complex designs than mine, and they look to fit very cleanly in the wood. Hopefully he'll chime in and let us know how it's done

I build muzzle loading rifles and the technique would be the same as fitting the metal inlays into a rifle stock:


-make sure the inlay has a taper on all sides, file or sand about a two degree taper, making the "bottom" smaller than the "top"

-place the inlay where you want it, clamp or hold very firmly

-cut around the perimiter with your xacto knife, be sure to tilt the blade to match the taper, so you are actualy creating an outline a tiny bit smaller than the inlay.

-remove the inlay and back cut to your original cut, you now have a "trench" in the outline of your inlay

-use a tiny bent flat chisel to remove the material inside the trench outline

-put some inletting black (you can use lipstick or soot from a candle) on the "bottom" of the inlay

-press the inlay into the recess, remove the inlay, and now remove all the high spots that are marked by the inletting black

-repeat, repeat, repeat, untill it sits nearly flush, epoxy in place and sand flush.

Hope this helps

Dave

Thanks All,

Very useful info, Tobico4 the angle cut makes sense as well..cheers.

Gary

Having also built muzzleloaders, I was going to post just what tobico said - the inlay is tapered all-around and the hole is therefore smaller than the top of the inlay - so after you cement in the inlay you can file everything smooth and not have any gaps around the inlay.

Tom

Here ya go, Gary...

http://www.americanmachinetools.com/cnc_milling.htm

or...

http://www.flashcutcnc.com/html/mach_2000_5400.html

$$ $$

Originally Posted by urleebird

Here ya go, Gary...

http://www.americanmachinetools.com/cnc_milling.htm

or...

http://www.flashcutcnc.com/html/mach_2000_5400.html

$$ $$

Hehe, yeah. Wouldn't it be nice to own a CNC

And, come to think of it, I could make use of a flowjet and laser etcher as well

Originally Posted by urleebird

Here ya go, Gary...

http://www.americanmachinetools.com/cnc_milling.htm

or...

http://www.flashcutcnc.com/html/mach_2000_5400.html

$$ $$

Wow, thanks Bill. You know I could set everything up, design from my office in town and it would be done before I get home. Cool....
Oh yeah and dirt cheap too..
Gary