Thread: Marquetry For My Father-in-law

Thanks artme. It isn't going nearly as well as I'd like. Then again, I'm pretty hard on myself. I expect a very shallow learning curve from myself. Sometimes, this just isn't the case. The gaps bug me. I think I have it figured out.

Friday, I mixed up some epoxy and added some bloodwood sawdust for some gap filling. It glued together tight, but it didn't squish out the sides. OK... I'll just have to fill it in with lacquer. So the plan became to put on a sealing coat, then do some gap filling. It turns out that the solvent in lacquer is also a solvent for the black dye. It flowed out and stained the surrounding wood.

Were I not a God-fearing man, y'all might have heard me cussing up a blue streak all the way in Australia. Woah BABY was I ticked!

I managed to wipe off most of the lacquer that was on the non-black parts, but the damage was done. I tried to sand it back, but I couldn't get in there very good. All I could do was get what I could and go on.

After that layer dried, I packed the gaps with sawdust and used a toothpick to drop lacquer into the gaps. It worked out well enough. I'm now finishing the lacquer and making a frame out of walnut. I'll post some pics on Monday.

this is probably too late but an interesting fact anyways if you mix a cup of vinegar with a hand full of nails over night and combine the mixture with something pale like oak it turns black exactly like a stain would look.
the peice is looking great cant wait to see the fianl result!

Originally Posted by Torre

this is probably too late but an interesting fact anyways if you mix a cup of vinegar with a hand full of nails over night and combine the mixture with something pale like oak it turns black exactly like a stain would look.
the peice is looking great cant wait to see the fianl result!

It may be too late for this one, but it can be used in the future. One cannot have too much information. What one does with said knowledge is another thing completely.

What type of nails are used, and what type of vinegar? IE: are the nails steel, aluminum, etc. Is it red vinegar, white vinegar, malt vinegar, etc. This sounds like a chemical reaction, and I know that the reactions are dependant on specific ingredients.

Is the resulting mixture used as a stain?

Sorry I haven't posted the pics yet. Things have been busy at home. I have the lacquer mostly done. I'm just waiting for it to cure before I buff it out with steel wool. The frame is waiting for a band clamp to come in.

all you need to do is get have a cup of white vinegar and thrwo some steel nails in, i dont think theres any exact ratio let that sit overnight then place some veneer in a tray like a paint tray and pour the mixture in let it sit for a few hours take it out dry it and thats it all done.

Sorry it's taken me so long to get some pics and make an update. Here's the frame I made for it and a peek at the finished product.





The frame is made from flamed walnut. I brushed on a coat of sanding sealer, sanded it back, then rubbed in two coats of wipe-on poly, buffing with steel wool between coats. I'm going to leave it as is: semi-gloss.

I'd like some opinions on the plaque. The lacquer sould me fully cued next week. I have two options: 1) level it out and buff it with steel wool for a matte finish, or 2) level it out, wet sand it to 3000 grit, and polish it out to a mirror finish. What do you think?

Wonderful result!1 It really has come up a treat!

You have really done a fantastic job with your marquetry (I wish I could do it that well!) So you had a few issues... well that is what makes a good craftsman is making the most of the problems.

You said you wanted some comments... well here is mine. The marquetry is great and the walnut frame looks beautiful. The grain and pattern in the walnut is really something to behold. For me, if I was going to be a bit picky this is where I would comment. I think the beauty of each component detracts from the other. What I mean is, the marquetry is the subject of what you are doing, I would recommend a more basic/plain frame or border so that it will not detract from the marquetry work. This is just my opinion so take it for what it is worth. (probably nothing much!)

Anyway, you are doing it for your Dad and I am sure he will love it with all the thought and work that has gone into your project.

I look forward to you posting your next project!

Chipman

And then disaster struck.

So the other day, I gathered everything to wet sand the lacquer to a mirror finish. The first thing you do is level out the finish, so I grab the sanding block and some 220 and LIGHTLY begin to sand.

Literally two swipes - one forward and one back - and I had sanded through. Not only had I sanded through, but I took off some of the black stain on the right side. But it gets better. One lone piece of the maple wind cup got it too. Remember how the black stain had bled over onto the rest of the wood and darkened it? Now there was a 'clean' spot!

Honestl, I can't imagine how this happened. I must have laid down 5 or 6 fairly heavy coats of brush-on lacquer. There's just no way it was that thin. All evidence to the contrary.

GGGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

At his point, I throw my hands up in the air and surrender. I said to myself "Screw it, I'm starting over."

No, I'm not trashing the whole thing. I sanded back as far as I could to get everything 'clean' again. I may completely forego trying to make the right side darker. The whole thing is glued together and solidly in place, so there's no getting the right side of the background out.

I'm more than a little frustrated right now. Any suggestions?

Sorry to hear of your problem. I had something similar happen to me with a clock....hd to wash all the lacquer of with thinners and stain and finish again(mine fell over into newspaper!). I would sugest you never go finer than about 600 grit with wet sanding and use a little detergent in the water. Also if you spray, you might be able to get more even coats. I suspect some would tell you to forget the (lacquer and use shellac)

I wish I could give you some help but without a picture or seeing it it is hard to give any advice. I have sometimes had some success with spot staining if I have cut through the lacquer and taken off the stain.

Hope you work something out as it is a nice piece.

Chipman

Just a thought - given it's really thin (the veneer/stain as well as the finish), I'd suggest not to touch a sanding block. If at all, use the sanding sheet with your bare fingers/hands , so you can really feel what it's doing. And go easy with any other treatment as well (steel wool, buffing down, etc).

But keep at it, you've been doing well!

All done.

I did all of the sanding by hand this time. After leveling, I wet-sanded from 400 through to 3000. It then got a dose of swirl remover and elbow grease.

There were a LOT of lessons learned the hard way. Honestly, most of the flaws are a result of trying to fix something else that went wrong. I'm not satisfied with the results, but it's not getting done over. It's not BAD, but it could be a lot better. Next time around will be much better.

For a first time at marquetry you did a great job, also your little mishap that you had was just a learnng curve and you would of learn't what to do if you do marquetry in the near future....we all gotta learn from mistakes. GREAT JOB!!!