Any woodworkers in the house???

[TyeDyeSkyGuyParticipant]

I’m looking for some insight on a project I’ve been working on. I’m building a harp, pretty much from scratch. The build is going along well and I’m at the stage of doing some fun design stuff. I’m going with a Celtic theme, carving the backbone, and I want to inlay the drop with brass. The carving is going well, but I’ve never attempted doing an inlay before and I’m looking for advice. The pattern I’ve drawn out isn’t very complex, but it is my first time. I’m going to attempt a Celtic knotted vine design, similar to my avatar. It will of course be much longer and narrower, but similar all the same.

I’m going to use a router to make the cuts unless there is a better way? My biggest worry is where the vines cross each other. How in the world do I get that to blend evenly and without noticeable seems?

Any help or suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

[FrizzParticipant]

I do musical instrument work professionally, and perhaps I can help some. You’ve pick a fairly ambitious inlay patten for a first attempt. What kind of wood are you putting the inlay in? If it is a dark wood, you can make a filler so that you don’t have to rout exactly. If you are inlaying into a light colored wood, you will have to be much more exact as it is harder to fill invisibly.

I recomend using a dremmel tool with a router base attachment. It is much easier to handle that a full size router, and there is a variety of bits available in many sizes. I have even used bits from my dentist for very fine inlays.

If you have specific questioins about techniques or materials, please feel free to PM me.

[TyeDyeSkyGuyParticipant]

@frizz wrote:

I do musical instrument work professionally, and perhaps I can help some. You’ve pick a fairly ambitious inlay patten for a first attempt. What kind of wood are you putting the inlay in? If it is a dark wood, you can make a filler so that you don’t have to rout exactly. If you are inlaying into a light colored wood, you will have to be much more exact as it is harder to fill invisibly.

I recomend using a dremmel tool with a router base attachment. It is much easier to handle that a full size router, and there is a variety of bits available in many sizes. I have even used bits from my dentist for very fine inlays.

If you have specific questioins about techniques or materials, please feel free to PM me.

Thanks Frizz, never thought of using the Dremel. I have the router attachment and it came with a few bits. I’m using Rosewood and Mahogany, the inlay will be in the mahogany. I’ve already found a filler thats pretty close, but I’m hoping to natural stain the wood when I’m done, so a close match just wont do. I may end up having to do a few shades darker, but that would be disappointing.

I came across some gold leaf a few months back and I’m starting to think I may be better off doing it that way. I’ve worked with it before, and any time I made a mistake, I just rubbed it off. Still would like to do the inlay though, it’s something I’ve never tried. The good news is, if I screw up the cut, I can just cut a new drop. I bought extra wood stock for this purpose to begin with. 🙂

[Team Black-CatParticipant]

This sounds pretty cool. Do you have any pictures of your work in progress?

[TyeDyeSkyGuyParticipant]

@Team Black-Cat wrote:

This sounds pretty cool. Do you have any pictures of your work in progress?

I’ve been taking some here and there and plan to make a slide-show kind of thing when it’s all done.

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