intarsia spaces

[scoyne]

Hi gang. I've been looking at a number of intarsia and the patterns all show no spaces between the wood pieces. With my own intarsia projects these pieces have small spaces between them. Does anyone have suggestions in how to fix the problem.

I moved your thread to a more appropriate forum to maximize traffic and get you more responses to your request/question.

[Rolf]

1. Table Must be absolutely square to the blade, check this frequently by checking hw square your pieces are.
2. Blade tension and don't push sideways when you cut
3. Be consistent on where you cut on the line. Some split the line others cut right on the line. It is a matter of preference and what works best for you. Be as precise as possible.
4. If you have a really bad piece, cut a new one.
You will always have some gaps, wood moves, what is perfect now may not be a year from now so don't stress out. Remember it is supposed to be fun.
The more pieces you make the better you will get.

[Jim Finn]

One way to help with this, is to stack cut the different woods so they will fit together perfectly. In my work I do have some slight cracks there where I do not stack cut parts of the pattern. I always make a masonite backing and this holds the pieces in place very well, so the small spaces do not matter as much. I make my intarsia only 3/8" thick so stack cutting works for me.

[Jan]

One of the things I watch because Janette Square pointed it out in a magazine series about intarsia: Try to cut as many pieces as possible in the same direction, as in always with the waste area on the left or the right, whatever your preference. That way gaps are less apt to open as you shape the pieces. This is because, if you are pushing the blade even the least little bit sideways, it will always be to the same side and the gaps won't open as you reduce the thickness of the wood while shaping.

Jan

[evilbadger]

You could pinch the pieces together and run the blade through the seams to get a tighter fit. Since the pieces are already cut the blade will not really be cutting anything it will act more as a file/sander to make them fit tighter. Hope that makes sense to you.

[Terry Murphy]

Great tip, Tim.

[woodwizard]

if you cant sand the high spots off, try filling crack with sawdust and glue. works for me.

[ChuckD]

I always use a black backer board so if they can see the gaps (most of the times they can't) it looks like it is suppose to be there. Remember you are your own worse critic. I have thrown away many pieces into the burn barrel that my Bride "saves" regardless of how I feel. So step back a few feet and look again. It is not that bad

[fireglass]

You know what they say,you get back far enough any art work well look good. Don't give up the next one well be GREAT! Lance