make yourself some edge inlay

click the photos to enlarge them ...

back in  the mid 80s i started adding inlays to my designs in an attempt to stand out from the

crowd of shaker style furniture that a lot of the makers were putting out there then ...  

get yourself a problem ... figure out how to solve it .. fun!

you'll have to scroll through a couple posts at that link to see the edge inlays described here ..

this photo shows the last stage of the process.  the blank has

been made and cut into strips. the edge of the top has been routed

and i just have to neatly glue them all in and flush them up.

add a little finish and send it on its way.

update ... see the end of this post ... 

well, it has been a while since i personally made one of these blocks

and i was fortunate when i recently edited the shop to bundle up

these gluing jigs and put them in the cellar, and lucky to find them 

yesterday when i needed them .. it still took a little head scratching

to get the job done.  once you decide the design, and the options are 

infinite, the first step is to make the center block from alternating 

strips of different color woods. in this case, ebony and hard maple ..

the first jig requires a bunch of clamps and some elmers white glue 

for a long open time

the blue clamps squeeze the strips together, but you have to do a little dance

where you clamp them flat lightly, then squeeze em, then clamp them flat

a little tighter, then a little flatter .. back and forth .. you get the idea ...

next you have to smooth the glued up center section.  the 'meat' of the sandwich ..

you can do this with out a wide belt sander, and i did a lot of it 

before we finally bought some real tools in 2001 ... in the photo above 

you can see the bit i use to rout the edge of the table. it's best to

do that before adding the thin top and bottom strips so you know 

how thick you want the block to be once it is glued up ..

next make the top and bottom pieces, the 'bread' ..

i generally shoot for a thin 3/8ths for the center section,

and a big sixteenth for the top and bottom layers

then you want to squeeze the whole thing together between some

blocks coated with non stick tape and as many clamps as you can fit ..

once that sets, you've got your block and you just need to set your

fence to the right thickness. the maple board fits over the inlay block and

pushes the cut strips through to clear the blade.  repeat ... insert video here ,,,

2/7 ... all glued up now .. first coat of finish is on the bottom of the top ... 

a few steps to get there ... 

sand the ends of the strips so they mate and the corners are mitered ..

add glue and masking tape

scrape and sand it smooth and flush with the cherry

drag out your box of odds and ends pieces and reflect ... 

the cherry and black paint and inlays is actually what i have

referred to in the past as my 'studio style' ..

blast from the past! ... lots of old portfolio photos at that link ..

all for now ..

.