DIY Network

Inlaid Serving Tray: Marquetry Techniques From "Wood Works" episode WWK-508

With the, veneers cut for the marquetry and the background piece, work can begin on cutting out the shapes from the veneers to form the inlaid design. Each of the shapes in the design represents a different piece of wood inlay. The three areas of the design laid out on the satinwood will be cut out one at a time.

Materials:

Scroll saw
Pin vice
Kiln-dried sand
Hot plate
Straight-edge
Carpenter's pencil
Carpenter's tape
Yellow woodwoker's glue
Clamps
Safety glasses or goggles

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	Figure A
	Figure B
	Figure C
	Figure D

Safety Alert: Always wear safety goggles or safety glasses when
working with wood, power-tools, saws, drills, routers, etc.

"Painting With Wood"

• A pin vice (figure A) is a specialty tool used to drill tiny holes in veneer. Select which element you want to cut out first, and drill a tiny hole in that section with the pin vice (figure B). The hole just needs to be large enough to allow a "00"-gauge scroll-saw blade to pass through.

• Once the hole is drilled through the veneer, pass the scroll-saw blade through the hole, clamp it in position and begin rough-cutting the window of the first shape in the satinwood veneer (figure C). Be sure that you cut close to the marked line, but not on the line. Leave about 1/16-inch between the cut and the line.

• With the hole cut, you can position the first marquetry veneer behind the window. Since ours is a leaf pattern, we line up the grain pattern of the curly myrtle to match the direction of the veins on the leaves.

• Once the veneer is in position, tape it securely to the back of the satinwood using carpenter's tape (figure D).
  
• The key objective with marquetry is making sure that the pieces fit together precisely. With the first veneer taped, go back and fine-cut the hole to the line. We achieve this using a method called the double-bevel technique. As seen in our large-scale demonstration model (to make it easier to see how the technique works), the pieces of veneer are fine-cut on an angle of about 7 degrees (figure E).

• Once the pieces are cut, they slide together and are locked in a snug fit by means of the bevel cut (figure F).

  Figure E

  Figure F

  
  

  	Figure G
  	Figure H
  	Figure I
  	Figure J
  	Figure K
  	Figure L
  	Figure M

• Tip: It's a good idea to practice the double-bevel technique by cutting some scrap pieces of veneer. How the pieces come together will depend on which side of the blade you cut. If your pieces don't fit correctly, you may need to tilt your saw-bed to the opposite side or reverse the direction of your cut.

• To prepare the scroll-saw to cut the double-bevel, tilt the bed of the saw to a 7-degree angle (figure G).

• Using the pin vice again, drill a small hole through both veneers (satinwood and myrtle) just outside the cutting line where the second inlay will go. Drill the hole at 7-degree angle.

• Carefully thread the scroll-saw blade through both pieces and tighten down the blade. With the saw-blade in position, meticulously cut along the line of the first section (figure H), carefully cutting out every detail.

• When you're done, the inside (myrtle) piece and the satinwood cut-out should fit together perfectly (figure I).

• Before gluing the pieces in place, a decorative touch may be added to the edges using a technique called sand shading. This technique darkens the edges to make the leaf shape stand out more distinctly, creating a three-dimensional effect.

• Clean, kiln-dried 30-mesh sand is heated in a metal pan using a hot plate. Hold the cut-out segment with needle-nose pliers or hemostats, and place the edge of the piece in the heated sand (figure J). The hot sand scorches the wood a little at a time. With sand-shading, you may decide how dark you want to make the edges. The longer the heat is applied, the darker the edges of the wood.

• Once sand-shading is complete, you can glue in the first segment (figure K). Apply yellow glue to the edges of the segment, and insert it into the cut-out. Secure the segment with tape. Because the fit is so tight, the small amount of glue should dry within a few minutes. You can then move on to the next segment.

• As before, use a pin vice to drill a hole anywhere in the next leaf segment. Use the scroll saw to cut out the window about 1/16-inch from the line. Place the grain of the next veneer stock so that it's visible through the window, and tape it into position.

• Drill an entry hole for the scroll-saw blade through both veneers (figure L). To disguise the hole, place it right on the line and drill it at the same angle as the scroll-saw bed -- 7 degrees.

• Carefully cut to the line as you did with the first segment. To cut the second segment perfectly and achieve a snug fit, the blade can overlap slightly into the first inlay.

• Once the second section is cut out, it should fit seamlessly with the first, to complete the first of the three leaves in the pattern. Conduct a dry-fit to make sure that you have a perfect fit (figure M).

Figure N