I prefer to make Christmas presents rather than buy them. Since its that time of year I have been considering several options.
Remembering an inlay technique by Paul Zank that I was told about by Bill P. I decided to give it a test. Then the presents can truely be personalized.
I read up on Pauls technique, and in just about two hours made my first test. I used a pine board for the female inlay, and a bit of "ruined" rosewood for my male reverse "outlay". (Why to keep colorful scrap!)
Here is Pauls writeup on his method:
http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/messages/2/14775.html
It came out better than I expected. My V carve bit was a bit dull and the points of the male lettering were very fuzzy, so I did not expect a good result. Wrong! The fuzzy parts are burried deep in the female V grooves. And probably it gave more for the glue to grab.
Here is the result after using the thickness sander to remove the excess rosewood:
48737.jpg
Here is the result after following up with a random orbit sander:
48738.jpg
And a closeup:
48739.jpg
A few quick notes: Pine earlywood is too soft for the technique to work well. I will try a 60degree bit next. This was using a 90 like Paul describes. Inlay depth was 0.100 inches, however the font made most of the inlay more like 0.050.
I have been working with Aspire to get better artwork for my next efforts. Don't want to mess up there! This will keep me out of the malls for sure.
Now I will be buying some new V bits (its about time!) And prepare to spend a long weekend making presents..
And a million thanks to Bill P.
Ho^3
D