Inlay made with no jigs using Band Saw and Disc Sander.

[nickao]

Inlay made with no jigs using Band Saw and Disc Sander.

I am going to post a bunch of little pictures of one simple way to make an inlay with only a band saw and disc sander. I will post every day for two or three days, this is a side project or it would be done in a day or less.. Drawing up the pattern board is a different set of pictures I will include that last for another design, this design I drew up years ago.

I personally can make an inlay very quickly like this, but it is not the way I generally make all my inlays. This is ONE simple way to make them. You do not need an accurate saw or even have to know angles or anything like that. You probably are not going to knock out five inlays like this, but you can. In the future I will show how every cut can be made with a TS 55 or 75, Rail and MFT and another way using a miter box and table saw. I will share some jigs and other things in the future also.

I am hoping to make the pictures so simple you can figure out what I did. Just look at the pictures and then ask me a questions if you are interested. No documentation needed because its fairly straight forward, I would rather go back and forth with questions.

 

[JJ Wavra]

Nickao,
thanks for posting I look forward to seeing the rest of the postings.  I was wondering if you would share some installation techniques and what you finish them with(I seem to remember you saying that you use shellac but I could be wrong).

Thanks
JJ

 

[vteknical]

Hi Nick,

Thanks for posting a look and tutorial into your craft. My first questions are regarding the design and templates.
Do you design and print them yourself? 

Victor 

 

[nickao]

Yes, I will show an install when I am done with this. Its very simple using a template and router bit with a bearing to follow the template.

I use Smart Draw to design some of the inlays and occasionally I have the design printed at kinkos. At Kinkos I have them use a plastic film coating.

Lately I make the designs and draw them up myself by hand. Then I draw all the pattern boards too,  it is faster and cheaper and I just cover the pattern board with clear packing tape.

I use shellac and wax but I never finish the inlays for clients. There are just to many different sheen's to have one finish and that is a business in itself.

Nick

 

[stvrowe]

Nice tutorial Nick - I look forward to the rest.
Steve

 

[Les]

Keep it coming. Lots to learn. Thanks.

 

[Eli]

I was really hoping you were going to post something like this Nick  : . Thanks very much. Fantastically good picture explanations.  ;D ;D

So the third from last photo, those are your offcuts that you use again for smaller diamonds?

 

[nickao]

Yes they are. I usually do not do that when I am making a production run, but this is to show how something that looks intricate can be made with barely any tools or lumber.

Normally with offcuts like that I throw them in boxes to save for retirement when I can sit and do marquetry. I have about 1000 lbs of usable off cuts from over 400 species I have gathered over the years, I think it is like 50 boxes or so.

I may add remarks to the pictures if it is not self evident. That picture is probably one I should have remarked on. I am posting another set of pictures tonight. My six year old daughter just got done tracing out the templates onto the two color woods for the rest of the pieces and she did pretty well!

I may put up a jig or two tonight showing a fast simple way to make an 8 point star with any miter box, whether its accurate  or not.

Nickao

 

[Eli]

Love it. Love it.

That picture is probably one I should have remarked on.

and now you have!

 

[Bill Wyko]

Very cool. I think I'm going to try this on a smaller scale. Make myself an inlay for the top of a humi in the future. Thanks Nickao.

 

[robtonya]

Very cool. I think I'm going to try this on a smaller scale. Make myself an inlay for the top of a humi in the future. Thanks Nickao.

Thats a good idea! I also have always wanted to try this, but I guess it is a little intimidating, but not so much on a smaller scale.

 

[Eli]

Hey Nick,
How do you clamp the diamonds for gluing up, or don't you?

 

[nickao]

"Hey Nick,
How do you clamp the diamonds for gluing up, or don't you?"

It depends on how much wood I have.

In this case the first picture shows how I edge glue two different woods together, THEN I draw and cut the diamond shape. I have jigs for most, but in this thread I wanted to show one simple way.

Actually, if you can make an inlay like this you will become an expert using the disc and spindle sander. After making so many inlays  I can rough out a curved shape on the band saw  and get results as good as a router for the outside and inside curves with the sanders. But it is slower and if you have no patience you will never get to the point you can get the pieces to exactly fit.

To me this project is nothing more then an intensive exercise in using the disk and spindle sanders. Instead of just practicing on scrap you get a final project this way. These inlays are not hard to make and although they look intricate anyone can easily make them, if not using this method then using one of the other methods with jigs, etc.

I use a router when I need to move faster, but there is something inherently nice about using the sanders to shape every single piece. Its like you are involved in every little part of the project. You will touch and feel every square inch this way and it does give the piece a hand made feeling to it. Sometimes the jigs work so well the inlay looks like a machine manufactured the inlay.

I have been very busy so I did not get any progress pictures posted yet. I  have to go through all the pictures and pick the best ones to post in a chronological order.

Here are a few picture of the inlay "wear layer" completed and ready for the plywood backing to get attached. Then I will make it perfectly round before I ship it out.

The bottom picture looks jagged around the edges, it is not jagged in reality, shrinking the picture messed it up a little.

Nickao

 

[nickao]

Here is a picture of on another way to clamp the "diamonds" or star tips two color pieces together.

The pinch clamps are awesome. If I do not have a lot of lumber knowing I can clamp like this really helps when I am laying out all the pieces. In the other method I showed gluing the pieces straight then cutting out the shapes can be a waste of lumber.

The key benefit for me using these clamps is that they allow you to use almost any size scrap. The pinch clamps are great for picture frames and outside corners for crown molding too!

After the pinch clamps are used to attach the two colors together I clamp each of the two color elements together using Tape as the clamps.

Nickao

 

[Eli]

I'm a dummy  :-\ , I didn't explain myself well and wasted your time (although there was even MORE useful info in the last posts)

I was wondering how the finished diamonds were glued to each other to make the complete assembly. I got how you make the diamonds themselves, but do you assemble all of them into the finished complete piece or do you send it along to the floor installer with a map  : .

 

[nickao]

The inlay is sent in one piece to the floor installer.

Here is a picture of the star portion of an inlay like in this post but in different colors that I am working on right now.

After all the shapes of the design are edge glued to one another then hardwood assembly gets put in a vacuum press and a plywood backer is attached.

As you can see even before the backer is on, the hardwood "wear layer" is very strong and can stand on its own easily. Actually, if I slammed the inlay star in the pictures below against a table, the inlay would not break at the glue joints ie the seams between shapes. The edge gluing is the best way to help prevent gapping of the shapes down the line. Most companies do not do this and just lay the pieces side by side as they are put in the vacuum press.

Nick

 

[Eli]

Excellent. Thanks Nick, I'm finding this fascinating. Please keep sharing. ;D

 

[Les]

Nickao,

Sorry but I'm not sure how you hold the piece of the star together while the glue dries. Do you make several sub-assemblies using the pinch clamps?

 

[nickao]

No pinch clamps, tape is used to hold the pieces together while the glue dries. Sometimes I use parallel clamps too, 3 at a time, but on some inlays they are not required, every inlay is different.  I will try to get a picture sequence up later tonight. Here are  some pictures of the taping, clamping and the edge gluing.  I added some pictures to a previous post in this thread showing the taping of the center star.

Of course I smooth the glue on the entire edge before clamping it with the tape:

 

[Eli]

Nick do you send the inlay assemblies out as a standard thickness, or do you require the client commit to a flooring thickness and then match your inlay+ply backer to that?

And my other question is, the shellac and wax topping you use is strictly aesthetic because the entire floor is sanded and finished after install correct?