Inlays & drill holes

[meydenhart]

Someone posted this question in another group. I have not done much inlay work, but this has always been a problem for me in relief cutting as well, especially if you work with thick material and cannot get away with a tiny hole due to blade size required. Filling the hole does not always hide it sufficiently. Can someone here give him an answer? Rolf? You've just covered inlays in John's advanced class?
Thanks, Sue

"I am trying to learn how to do inlays. How do I hide the blade entry hole? One set of insrtuctions I got from a Scrolling magazine said that I should drill a 1/16" hole next to the cut line, set the table 3 degrees to the right, and cut counter-clockwise, useing a #5 reverse tooth blade. I am using 1/4 inch stock, by the way. After following those instructions, I had a very noticable hole in the test piece. I did another test but drilled a hole useing a #61 drill bit. There was a much less noticable hole, but I could still see it.

It seems to me that I should either use a larger blade or make the hole smaller, however, a #61 drill is the smallest that a #5 blade will fit into. It makes sense to me to drill the hole at 90 degrees rather than at the same angle, but perhaps that is incorrect too."

[Forester21]

I have read to drill the hole at the same angle that you have set your table to when cutting. This would involve using a hand-held drill, setting your wood on the table, then drilling - being careful to not drill through the table (use another piece of wood under what you are cutting).
But my hand held drill will not hold the small bits I use (and I didn't want to buy the attachment), so I drill at 90 degrees on my drill press.

Use the smallest drill bit that you can get your blade through. Place the hole in a corner if at all possible.
I'm sure that the side of the line where you drill your hole makes a difference - and whether you are "dropping" the top wood into the bottom or vise-versa. But I haven't figured out which side to drill on - I'm sure others more in the know will be able to tell.

Probably not much new information for him. Another thing to try - after finishing the project, set it aside for a day. Then take it out and just look at it, not critically, but as someone looking at the project. Sometimes what we the artist sees as flaws, are not, and what we are not focusing on, is not visible.

Theresa

[fretnmore]

You want to try drilling at a larger angle than what your table is set for.

The thing to try for is to have the drill hole in the waste side of the top board and the bottom board. Which means inside of the part being removed on top and outside of the part that will be inlaid on the bottom. You may go through the part being kept on the top board, but it should be on the back side and not the front.

It's difficult to explain with words, and I've looked for a picture of it and can't seem to find it right now. Roy King had some excellent pictures of it with his Artistic Inlay company. So if you have an old brochure from them it explains it very well.

Hope this is helpful.

Pat Lupori

[BobD (Archive)]

You could also sand while the glue is still wet; the glue and sanderdust will combine into a perfectly-matched wood filler...

In fact, if you make the inlay so it fits a little proud, it would give you plenty of material to sand for sanderdust...

Just a brainstorm; I haven't tried it!

Bob

[CanadianScroller]

If you save the dust from sanding and mix it with the finish you are using, like poly or varethane it will blend in perfectly.

If you use glue sometimes the glue will not accept the finish the same as the rest of the wood and it may show.

[Rolf]

I just started doing inlays I am sure there are many more of you that have more experience, but these are some of my ideas, and what I did.

For my inlay I cut 2 pieces of 1/4 inch material and used a 2/0 blade. I drilled the smallest hole that the blade would fit through @ 90 deg. I like Pat's suggestion below and will try that. I will also make myself some angled shims so that I can drill the appropriate angle on my small high speed drill press.
The holes that I have now I fill with the appropriate color saw dust. I put tape on the back (temporary) and just rub the sawdust into the hole and then seal the surface. You also want to drill the hole in the bottom of a v if possible that seems to be the most forgiving.

"You want to try drilling at a larger angle than what your table is set for.

The thing to try for is to have the drill hole in the waste side of the top board and the bottom board. Which means inside of the part being removed on top and outside of the part that will be inlaid on the bottom. You may go through the part being kept on the top board, but it should be on the back side and not the front."