Wood Inlay

[jeraldb]

I just wanted to get some advice on wood inlay.

I'm trying to give an oak bowl a flame job. It's about 10" in diameter, and 8" tall will a slight curve.

I want to carve out flames on the side of the bowl about half-way through the the thickness of the bowl. Then I want to use Cocobolo Burl to fill in the flames.

I problem is, how can I cut out the flames from the cocobolo and get the proper curves both up, down and side to side?

I thought about just duplicating the oak bowl in another cocobolo burl and just hacking the flames out of the cocobolo bowl. But that just seems like a waste. Any suggestions?

[beejay1]

Why not duplicate the bowl and simply cut the same design in both, swap them over and youll have an unusual matching pair.http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/images/icons/icon7.gifNot a turner myself but i think you could have the experts on board debating this one for a while, doesnt sound easy.
Welcome aboard jeraldp

beejay1

http://community.webshots.com/user/eunos9

[TimberNut]

Gerald,

I was asked to do a piece kind of like this a while back. they wanted figured inlays around the curved rim of a bowl. I used a dremel to carve out the designs required to about 1/2 depth of the bowl wall. Then filled with a black polyester resin with brass filings in it (locksmiths cut brass keys, and are a great source for brass filings). Let this set, then back on the lathe and turned away the resin back to the exterior wall of the rim. Made for awesome detailing. As it was on the outside, and the entire interior was wood, it was still food safe.
The resin cures neutral anyway, but if you don't go right though, then filling the cutout is easier also.

Depending on the flame design you are trying, there are LOTS of options with resins (opaque to multi coloured swirls if you set it up for fast drying, drip a little of the second colour in, quick swirl with a stick, then pour before it goes hard).
All available from boating suppliers.

Just a different take on it - not timber inlay, but an alternative that may help
Ian

[jeraldb]

Thanks for the advice. I think I will take the easy way out and then build up to the more difficult to do ways. I'm going to experiment with different resins and see what it looks like.

The set I will attempt will be to crank out two identical pieces and swap the cutouts. I guess I just have to cut out the entire thickness of the bowl for each and swap the cutouts. And, any imperfections can be sanded out.

But I am still interested in duplicating the exact design on the original piece from a second piece of wood. I envision being able to "edge" the inlay by about 1/16" all around and then using a colored resin to make it look like a pinstripe.