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19th August 2021, 02:31 PM #1
Inlay - astounding ACCURACY - how?
I follow a Japanese inlay guy who uses shell on guitars. His work is beyond belief.
hotaka_custom_inlay
There are many others just like him. Its all done by hand. No CNC. No machines. All hand.
BUT, what I cannot fathom is how he (they) mark the timber to be inlaid into so accurately with their completed object.
He is an example of an owl. It is shown in various stages of completion. There are more images on the link below. Building the object is not a problem for me, I've nailed this, but once the object is done these guys seem to somehow trace with astounding accuracy onto the underlying material and get it absolutely and utterly gapless.
I have never even come close. Less than not close.... they manage to get it PPEERRFFEECCTT.
Anyone know how it is done?
hotaka_custom_inlay Owl and branch
hotaka_custom_inlay-73256006_175762466815121_5063494900482567286_n.jpg hotaka_custom_inlay-74335859_104110107664657_7536444325306065453_n.jpg hotaka_custom_inlay-75580718_2498148173639320_8682299400232525719_n.jpg hotaka_custom_inlay-74510279_192276015147080_8648008951690765100_n.jpg hotaka_custom_inlay-76992913_192008631962486_8652865060574714324_n.jpg hotaka_custom_inlay-72789103_2172766336158715_3309670667870027358_n.jpg
and these snow flakes????? WITCHCRAFT !!!!!
Just look closely at them, its crazy.
hotaka_custom_inlay-50289617_2256852867693384_2611909347746017165_n.jpg hotaka_custom_inlay-51325210_645071495923257_4213162614393903015_n.jpg hotaka_custom_inlay-51007607_2554810761258031_3195485272893595626_n.jpg
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19th August 2021 02:31 PM # ADSGoogle Adsense Advertisement
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22nd August 2021, 08:49 AM #2Senior Member
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Honestly I think it's just excellent hand-eye coordination and patience in tracing the parts with a knife!
I've had a lot of success with tracing with a sharp knife though I certainly wouldn't put myself in the league of the above!!!!
It's always great to see others' skills! Sometimes it's hard to imagine how they got to this point but no doubt it's practise practise practise!!
Also just to add I don't use a powered router for complex shapes - to easy to slip! Knife plus chisels/gouges, and a hand router if it's a large area.
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22nd August 2021, 09:04 AM #3Senior Member
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Hhahahaha! - "whitchcraft"
Perhaps there is more to it than meets the eye with these snow flakes. I'd like to know how this was done too.
I need to fab a simple inlay after a work piece fell and hit a tech-screw that was poking through the shed wall
Can anyone suggest a good step by step link?
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24th August 2021, 11:30 PM #4GOLD MEMBER
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Hi woodPixel,
Don’t know how these guys do the tiny snowflakes, but to inlay diamond-shaped escutcheons and stars I use this technique.
Put a dob of superglue on the back of the insert then position it on the background. Once the glue dries, cut around the shape with a brand new scalpel blade (I use Swann & Morton 25A). Then put a scrap of timber against the side of the piece being inlaid and give it a sharp sideways tap with a hammer. Many superglues don’t have a lot of shear strength so the inlay piece comes off easily.
Then clear out most of the inlay pocket with a router plane or (my preference) a Proxxon rotary tool with a micro sized carbide bit all mounted in a MicroFence router base. Stewmac have a cheaper version of the router base for a Dremel. I’d recommend avoiding Dremel’s own router base - I found it nowhere near accurate enough for these small cuts. I finish off with a 3mm chisel, sneaking up on the line and making the final cut (the one on the line) as an undercut i.e. angling the chisel or scalpel so the edge of the inlay pocket slopes very slightly as the depth of cut increases. This way the inlay pieces have less resistance, fit tighter and leave a little room for the glue.
This is probably nothing like the way the experts do it but it works fine for my purposes.
Best regards,
Brian
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24th August 2021, 11:45 PM #5GOLD MEMBER
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Found a pic of the Microfence router base and Proxxon.
i’ve added a clear polycarb base for stability and use two hands when cutting - I have a foot control for the Proxxon.
A95ED55D-4D51-401B-8298-FA2FA77A30B6.jpeg
Regards,
Brian
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25th August 2021, 02:03 AM #6
I've the stumac and the LMI plunger. Brilliant both of them.
They complement a Dremel plus a rotary tool I bought off the forum. Again, amazing.
From Stumac and AliExpress are hyper fine bits.... Concerningly small!
But these guitar inlay blokes are wizards with dark arts! They get detail I can't even begin to imagine how to achieve...
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20th November 2021, 08:55 PM #7GOLD MEMBER
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Could they perhaps reverse the logic.
Cut hole in timber first.
Then grind the shell to fit.Apologies for unnoticed autocomplete errors.
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20th November 2021, 11:21 PM #8GOLD MEMBER
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