Greetings, I am new to this group and would like to be pointed in the right direction to gain information on veneering, especially placing very small straight line contrast strips. I am working on prototyping a replica of a mid 1800's accordeon that has a very plain walnut veneer however has these contrast strips near the borders and along the end of the fingerboard. Any advise, books, contacts, and personal advise is greatly appreciated. I believe the basic veneering will be straightforward, however cutting such small strips consistantly/evenly so that when the pieces are mitered that all lines up, seems daunting right now. Thank you in advance.
I watched a guy doing what I think you are basically describing. He was doing these very narrow inlays (about 1/32 inch wide) in wood. He used a sheet of veneer approximately 1/32 inch thick and cut strips along the grain about 1/8 inch wide or so. He used this simple tool he made from a hacksaw blade which was also about 1/32 of an inch thick) and scraped the lines along the patterns in the wood at some depth less than the 1/8 inch width of the strips. Then he laid the strips into the channels that he cut. The strips could be laid in along staright lines or curves this way. The strips protruded a bit from the surface. He then scraped the surface so that everything was flush. He claimed it was much simper than it looks when finished :-)
Thank you for your reply. If I understand correctly he cut a 1/32" channel in the piece, and then laid the 1/32" thick strips (~1/8" wide) in the groove "standing up"? then cut off the excess? I could possibally even use a 1/32" dremel cutter, and router table to make the channel. Thank you for the idea, I appreciate it very much.
"Andy" wrote in news:1148865407.752858.268710 @j33g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:
Look for some article(s) published by Michael Fortune on this specialty. Michael's one of the Canadians, and did a presentation about this at one of the wood shows I attended.
It's simple enough that he taught how to do it, and how to make your own hand tools to do it, in less than an hour.
Thank you both very much. God bless you for being willing to share your expertise with others. Thank you also for the lead on Michael Fortune, I will seek out information on this. Andy
Here's some specifics on Michael Fortune's tools and method. Did this after sitting in on one of his demos at a woodworking show. In addition to being one hell of a great woodworker, and a very good teacher (see - it's simple - now go do it), he is a really good, friendly, helpful person. We could use a lot more Michael Fortunes.
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If you REALLY want to go the router route - look into the Micro-Fence "system" - a precision positionable router fence with a precision plunge router base unit.
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Since router bits often are not EXACTLY the diameter they say they are, and veneer inlays aren't EXACTLY the width they say they are, this system lets you fine tune the fit as EXACTLY as you want it to be.
Example"
1/8th inch router bit is actually micrometered at 0.121 1/8th inch inlay strip is actually mircormetered at 0.129 The inlay is 0.008" wider than the bit
To set the depth of cut, plunge to get the bit in contact with the wood's surface. Raise the stop rod, place a piece of your inlay strip on the stop, lower the stop rod and lock it in place. Your groove depth will probably be just a tad shallow - you want it to be shallow rather than too deep.
Make a first pass at the groove. Widen the groove by dialing in another 0.008" and give yourself another few thousands for expansion when glue is applied.
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