Project Information
Nothing to spectacular, just a little 9"x12" cutting board made of hard maple with strips of black walnut and quilted maple running through a cut line. Everyone said it was trickier than it looks and I'd have to agree. Here's what I learned:
1. Create your thin strip ripping jig first and cut the inlay strips no thicker than 1/16" (or plane them down). Mine were almost 1/8" and were really stiff. I softened them up with a little water and a minute in the microwave but it was still tough.
2. Definitely need to clamp a cleat board across the top and bottom surfaces to keep it flat. I thought I could skip this with a small board but ended up with a little extra sanding to get it flat.
3. My flush trim pattern bit isn't so flush after all, it was taking a little off the pattern piece
4. My flush trim bit is only 1" cutting surface but my board was 1 1/8" thick so I had to plane it down after cutting it in half to get to a thickness I could use
5. Keep the curves rolling in the band saw. I spent too much time at the spindle sander taking out flat spots in my pattern piece
6. I used a 2' piece of ball-chain to lay out the curve because I really wanted a naturally occurring curve. I laid it on the pattern board and gave it a wiggle until I liked the curve then carefully followed the contour with a pencil.
7. I had extra pieces of cherry to add to the stripe which would have made the inlay as wide as the material removed. Since it was difficult enough to glue up, I decided I could live with the opposing board glue lines not matching up perfectly, but in a future board, that seems critical for eye appeal that the stripe exactly replaces the amount of lost material.
I used some butcher block/toy finish instead of just oil because I really like the way it makes the board more waterproof and shiny.
If you haven't seen the video: Click Here to Watch Scotty Lewis make it look easy
1. Create your thin strip ripping jig first and cut the inlay strips no thicker than 1/16" (or plane them down). Mine were almost 1/8" and were really stiff. I softened them up with a little water and a minute in the microwave but it was still tough.
2. Definitely need to clamp a cleat board across the top and bottom surfaces to keep it flat. I thought I could skip this with a small board but ended up with a little extra sanding to get it flat.
3. My flush trim pattern bit isn't so flush after all, it was taking a little off the pattern piece
4. My flush trim bit is only 1" cutting surface but my board was 1 1/8" thick so I had to plane it down after cutting it in half to get to a thickness I could use
5. Keep the curves rolling in the band saw. I spent too much time at the spindle sander taking out flat spots in my pattern piece
6. I used a 2' piece of ball-chain to lay out the curve because I really wanted a naturally occurring curve. I laid it on the pattern board and gave it a wiggle until I liked the curve then carefully followed the contour with a pencil.
7. I had extra pieces of cherry to add to the stripe which would have made the inlay as wide as the material removed. Since it was difficult enough to glue up, I decided I could live with the opposing board glue lines not matching up perfectly, but in a future board, that seems critical for eye appeal that the stripe exactly replaces the amount of lost material.
I used some butcher block/toy finish instead of just oil because I really like the way it makes the board more waterproof and shiny.
If you haven't seen the video: Click Here to Watch Scotty Lewis make it look easy
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