| I've had a lot of people ask me how I do the thru inlays in my turnings. I've set up this page showing how I do them. If you have questions on this process feel free to mail me , Bob |
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| This picture shows the type of inlay I'm going to do for this page but once you can do this one the sky's the limit. Bear with me all the photo's here are not from the same project but the process is identical. |
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| This first picture shows the plunge router equipted with a Porter Cable type template guide and a removable collar. The collar is at the bottom of the picture. This set requires an 1/8" straight or spiral router bit. I use a Freud 1/8" straight bit only because it's the only bit I have been able to find that will cut 5/8" in depth. |
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| To begin a homemade template is needed that is used to cut the inlay and the material to be inlayed. This is made from a 1/4" thick piece of wood or masonite. The template in the second picture has two holes but we only need one for this project. For a circle the hole must be 7/16" larger than the finished inlay. I use a forstner bit to cut the template only because it makes a nice hole. The forsner is ONLY used for making the template. If you do an inlay that isn't just round you'll need to cut it with other means. In this project the diameter of the inlay is the length of the segment. We will be using the hole on the right marked 1-9/16. That is the finished size. The hole drilled is actually 2" (7/16"larger) |
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| ThisThird picture shows the template over the board (5/8"thick)ready to cut holes for the inlays. Care must be taken to keep the top of the template against the top of the board. This ensures that the holes are all routed in the same place. Clamp both boards to your bench and cut with the router. These cuts are made with the collar on the template guide. |
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| When your finished your board will look like this fourth picture. Rout as many holes as you need segments. I usually do one extra. Be sure your board is long enough so you have something to hold onto when you do the segmenting.Also leave enough space between holes to allow for the blade when it comes time to segment. |
| Next you need to cut the actual inlays. To do this make a board of a contrasting color and use the same template and the exact same process as you used to cut the holes except you MUST remove the collar from the template guide. The inlays can now be glued into the first board. If everything went well they will fit snugly or you might have to sand just a bit. Now just segment using whatever process you normally use. I personally use a miter saw but it's by no means the only way. I find it the easiest and most accurate method for me. |
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| This picture below show three possible patterns made with the same ring. I parted it in the middle and reoriented the halves to form each pattern. A bit of immagination and many more patterns could be achieved with this same ring. |
| This last photo shows the mitered ring glued into a recess in a piece of plywood (trued). You can see it is oriented like the center ring in the photo above. I start all my turnings of this type like this as it is much easier to match the next ring to this one being that it's only 5/8" in depth. From here I would work towards the bottom then reverse and finish building toward the top. |
| OUT of CONTROL WOODTURNING INLAYING WOODTURNINGS |
| I use the method below for many types of inlays but an easier way is to drill a hole using a forstner bit in your stock and cut a plug with a plug cutter or a tenon cutter for the inlay. This will only work for round inlays. Anything other than round the below method must be used. The vase above was made with a drill press and round inlays. Please follow the safety instructions that comes with your power tools. |
| Read this first |
| The drillpress method of inlaying can be found on segmenting.biz The ring to the right was made using the drill press method. |
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