Inlay

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 Casters Resin, which I have found in craft shops and add powdered metals to give it colour.

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.