One of the techniques I discovered many years ago was a
way to make my inlay work look like marquetry, with much less
effort than true marquetry takes!
It is possible to buy ready mixed coloured inlay materials such
as 'Inlace', but this is very expensive to use for this
technique, so I use Clear Casting Resin, which I have found in
craft shops and add powdered metals or special dyes to give it colour. More recently, I have been getting these materials from Tiranti Art Supplies, and I find them very helpful, and reasonably priced.
The technique is quite straightforward.
I shape the back of the platter and face off the front about
3mm thicker than it will ultimately be.
I then turn a straight sided recess for the inlay pattern. I make
it about 6mm deep.
I then choose interesting off-cuts of timber. (The ones used on
the big platter above were small pieces of burr oak too small to
be useful for turning.) I slice them into 6mm slices and cut out
the desired shape (in the above platter 24 leaf shapes about the
same size.)
I then stick the cut out shapes into the recess with a good
quality wood glue. (I use 'Tight Bond') and leave it to dry for
24 hours
I then need to know how much inlay to make up to fill the recess.
For that I keep some rice! I fill up the recess with the dry rice
grains, shake them off into a bag and fill a measuring jug with
them. It is not completely accurate, but it gives you an idea of
how much inlay you will need.
I mix the clear resin and the chosen powder together trying to
get as little air in the mix as possible. I then add the
hardener. You need to add about 2.5 times the quantity of
hardener that you use for clear plastic castings if you add metal
powder to the resin.
I spend some time getting rid of all the air bubbles that I can.
It helps to put the mixture onto a vibrating surface (I find a
couple of minutes on the scroll saw bed works a treat) then the
inlay mixture has to be poured carefully into the recess.
I fill the recess to the top, even though I will be cutting away
at least 2 mm, because any tiny bubbles left in the mix will end
up in this top layer and if you cut into them it leaves a pitted
surface.
I leave the resin to set for at least 24 hours - longer if
possible.
The piece is then mounted on a chuck and the top is
finished.
When
turning resin areas, you have to remember that the density of the
material will be changing all the time. I have found that you
need the speed up as high as it will safely go, you need
really sharp tools and you need to take very fine
cuts. The resin will take a very good finish if you treat it
gently. If you try for too deep a cut you can get a very poor
finish or it can break out.
Sanding and finishing need some extra care as well. The resin
clogs the abrasive and it is easy to scratch the surface with
this clogged material if you don't check the abrasive regularly.
Also the different densities mean that too much pressure can
cause dips to appear (like over-sanding Ash).
I usually use sanding sealer on the wood. You need to check that
die from the inlay wood does not stain the resin - padauk is a
timber that will leach red dye into the sanding sealer given half
a chance. If staining could be a problem I treat the wood inlay
areas with sanding sealer first with a fine paintbrush, then when
that is dry I can go over the whole item.
If you want to put inlay somewhere that will be on a curved
surface when finished, you have to allow enough thickness in the
recess and cut out pieces that you don't go through the
pattern!
I often put inlay in the centre of a platter. 'Revealing' what
you have hidden inside the inlay resin can be quite exciting for
a demo!
Turning complete - just the back to finish!
Refining the foot using Cole jaws - I also use a vacuum chuck for
this.
Finished platter - you can just see the line of turquoise glass
beads I set into a recess under the rim. This inlay is 'Inlace'
with added turquoise glitter powder.
Another way of making a recess is to get my other half, Chris, to cut it using his computer controlled milling machine. More complex shapes can be produced, including text, and patterns such as club badges. Here is a video of the machine producing such a badge:
(The Woodturner making the noise behind the camera was me...)
A finished (different) badge can be seen here:
