Hello, all you inlay folk-
I've looked at books and websites, and done a little inlaying of single letters in hardwood, but I haven't been able to find out how to do a particular thing: inlay shapes that have tiny areas (like the serifs on a letter). Or imagine a star, for example. How do you create the recesses for the points? A router certainly won't fit in there, nor will a chisel be able to flatten the bottom into the corner.
I'm not talking about marquetry and veneering, or banding or stringing or purfling; I'm talking about inlaying a star cut from veneer into a block of wood. How do you cut a recess for that? Any of you inlay types out there have a technique for that?
-Tom