Thread: Marquetry For My Father-in-law

Interesting to see a fluer-de-lis in a US Military Badge, its usually associated with the French Monarchy, but also the Spanish Monarchy.

You using the window technique?

And the scouts.

Originally Posted by Cruzi

Interesting to see a fluer-de-lis in a US Military Badge

It's going to me quite the pain to cut out, too.

You using the window technique?

To be honest, I've only read one book on doing inlay work. It didn't name any techniques. For all I know, I may be using it and not know it. If there are any tutorials you could point me to, that might help.

Here's the basic steps I'm taking:
Spray the back of the paper with adhesive & press it onto the veneer.
CAREFULLY cut out the veneer with an X-acto knife.
Fit them together like a puzzle. Trim or re-cut as needed.
(cutting & fitting is where I'm at right now)
Apply spray adhesive to the front of the puzzle.
Assemble the inlay upside-down on wax paper.
Glue another piece of veneer to the whole thing with the grain going the opposite direction. (added strength & thickness)

After that, it'll be all final shaping & inlaying it into the bloodwood.

If I'm off anywhere, PLEASE tell me now!

The Scouts got it from the badge of Army scouts during Boer War which came from their Norman (French)origins.

As for correct techniques, I have no idea, still looking and trying to learn.

A forum member posted this link to a tutorial he did.

I did do a window fot the walnut piece. I'm going to have to re-do it, though. It didn't fit tight enough.

I tried a window for the anemometer too. It went, uh... let's just say I'll be re-doing it as well. Actually, the cups are fine, It's the thin connecting rods that went kablewie. The outline is the wind cup kinda pulled itself apart last night while I was cutting it. Too thin & fragile.

The whole thing is a big learning process for me. Good thing I have plenty of veneer to play with.

avenger look for a book called ,the marquetry course. it is by jack metcalf & john apps.its published by BtBatsford.distributed in the usa by Stirling publishing Co.isbn 0 7134 8850 6.its an a2z of veneering ,used in uk as the standard marquetry course.its strength is that it tells you in easy terms how to go about the different aspects of marquetry & parquetry.i first came across it in the public library here in australia.cant recommend it enough.hope this helps.

This would definitely help. My sister-in-law works at Boarders (book store chain in the U.S.), so she can pick me up anything in print at her discount. The ISBN# is a real plus in finding it. Thanks!

glad to help avenger you will find the book a real treasure.

Sunday was incredibly productive for me. My wive laid down for a nap around 1:30, then left with the kids from 4-7. That's right, I had over 6 uninterrupted hours to play!



I'm sure I don't need to tell you, but I will anyway... That fleur-de-lis was a huge PIA. I had to re-do each poece at least once. BUT, I learned a whole lot through trial & error. I don't regret the time spent. All the pieces are edge-glued with CA. I need to do some final shaping, then I can start cutting out the walnut.

I decided to not put the outline on the wind cup. I know that at this stage, I won't be able to make the round cuts consistentantly. I'd rather opit a detail than do it badly. The highlights on the cups turned out OK, though. Hopefully, there'll be more progress this week.

I'm really learning a lot from this project. I found a couple of on-line tutorials which I read a couple of times. That, combined with a hefty ammount of trial & error, is making for a great learning experience.

Monday night, I divided the shield in half and stained the right side black. As it dried, I cut & fit the center dividing stripe. I had to leave the whole ting alone for a day as the stain dried.

Last night, after I fit the right side of the shield into place, I managed to fit the wind cup & 1/2 of the F-D-L into place.



At this point, with the exception of the F-D-L pieces, the whole thing is held together with blue painters tape.



You can see very small gaps where things aren't quite lining up exact in some places. Aside from re-doing the whole thing, does anyone have any suggestions? I'm thinking about either grain filler or trimming off "splinters" to fill the gaps.

That is coming along very well indeed!!

It's almost readt to inlay into the bloodwood. I have the whole thing glued onto a piece of cherry veneer. (Thanks for the suggestion, jmrentis!) Woodweld is so easy to use! A little spooged through the gaps onto the face when I was putting the initial coat onto the piece. Fortunately, it cleaned right off with mineral spirits. I'll need to do a little gap-filling with some splinters, but other than that, it's ready to be inlaid into the plaque.

Looking good mate, keep them pics coming

I tried a couple of things to fill in the gaps. Carving off splinters? they looked like poo. Sanding dust? It all dragged out with the tack-cloth. Sanding also had the effect of stripping off the ebony stain. Did it get wiped away like the "filler" dust? Nooooooooooo... It filled in the grain on the walnut, cherry, and maple!

Typical.

I don't mind so much on the walnut & cherry. It actually accents the wood. The maple, though, just looks dirty. Sanding it out isn't working either. Lesson learned!

When I went back with a paintbrush to touch-up the stain that was removed, I stubmled accross one solution to the gaps. I filled them in with black stain! Problem solved.

So, after that was all cut out, snaded flat, and the shape was fine-tuned, it was time to rout out the bloodwood plaque.



God bless my Dremmel. I just love it to pieces. I routed the whole thing out, then evened out the edges & corners with a chisel-blade X-Acto knife. I needed two passes to get it to depth. I anticipated this. Better to be too shallow on the first cut. It's a heckuva lot easier to take out mor than it is to put some back.



The fit isn't too bad. There are some small gaps. Here's the plan: I'm going to glue it in with 2-part epoxy. When it's mixed up, I'll mix in some of the dust from routing the cavity into the epoxy. This'll turn it the appropriate color. Then, when it oozes out a bit, the gaps will fill in with the right color.