An easy way to make inlays using V Carve

[patricktoomey]

Ah, the old bubbles, they are a constant nuisance. I can't eliminate them all of the time but I've gotten to where they happen fairly rarely. What I do is this...

1. Route the inlay pocket with a round bottom bit or at least a bit with radiused edges so that the pocket does not have square bottom corners. These corners is where most of the air will get trapped and then cause you problems.

2. When dispensing the adhesive, first be sure to run enough through the tip to get all the air out before starting to put it in the pocket.

3. When putting the adhesive into the pocket, hold the gun almost straight up in the air, about 90 degrees to the work and put the tip down in the pocket slightly (but don't touch the bottom). Dispense it slowly and allow a good bead to build up over the tip and then flow out and over the surface of the material, then slowly move the gun to keep the flow even and always leaving a mound of material over the surface of the work piece. This will minimize air pockets.

4. (the trick) Take a pad sander with just the bare rubber bottom (if you have a velcro pad on the bottom, put something under it like a piece of dense foam or rubber. Run the pad sander on the top as quickly as possible after putting down your adhesive. Don't touch the adhesive, just run up close to it and try to vibrate the piece, this will cause any bubbles to rise to the surface. This is also why you want quite a mound of ahesive up over the surface, so that bubbles that make it to the surface and leave craters will leave the craters up over the surface of the piece.

5. Do your inlays in stages if necessary, you will use more adhesive and disposable mixing tips this way but it's cheaper than having to go back and fill bubbles. Doing it in smaller stages will let you get the pad sander on there before the ahesive starts to skin and set because at that point it's too late.

[rick_woodward]

thanks for the reply,paul. I have extensive experience with Bondo , minwax version, and others. I'm looking for something more fluid i can fill with and possibly use in a syringe.

[patricktoomey]

I don't know if the solid surface adhesive would work as a wood inlay or not. I see a few problems that would limit its use I think. First, it take some pretty aggressive sanding to take it down to the surface, not a big deal if you're going down to something as hard as it is. But if you're sanding it down to a much softer surface like wood I would be worried about dishing out the wood trying to get the adhesive flat. Maybe a large flat sander like a big inline sander for auto body work? The other issue would be that the adhesive will grow and shrink at a much different rate than the wood when you change humidity and/or temperature. If you're doing small areas and shapes it should be fine but long lines would most likely hump or crack and separate over time. I would be happy to try a sample and post the results to see what happens.

For wood inlays I've been using a product called Inlace...
http://turtlefeathers.com/text/inlace/inlace-main.html
Check out the links at the top of the page for the powders, dyes, etc. You can do just about anything with them.

Some sample of what the inlays look like from the same site...
http://turtlefeathers.com/gallery-text/inlace.html

I believe its coefficient of expansion is closer to wood than solid surface adhesive is. Also, they have cool granules and nuggets of different color that you can put into the inlay material. You can also mix colors and its viscosity is a little better than solid surface adhesive so you get less bubbles.

[paul_z]

Rick,

I asked some guys at a local hobby shop if there was a low viscosity epoxy. They said they thin epoxy with no more than 10% denatured alcohol and that they apply the epoxy with a brush as if it were paint. They said that it lowers the viscosity enough that there are no bubbles when it sets.

I would certainly test this before using on something important, but it might be useful.

Paul Z

[rick_woodward]

Thanks Guys. I'll check out the inlace. Yep, your right about the softness of the wood versus the epoxy. Forgot about that. I'd imagine there would still be an issue even with a widebelt sander. I used to work in the dental lab business. There was a German product that i used to inlay names on deer antler handles. These were on custom knives i had made. It was a UV cured epoxy in a syringe. Worked real slick, the outside of the needle was about 3/32". These were thin lines about 3/32" deep. I cut in the names in hand written script. Filled it and used the UV light on it and presto, it was hard cured. No bubbles and i sanded it down immediately. But that was deer antler and one was highly figured hard walnut. People that seen them really liked them. Bond was amazing. But being for the dental trade the cost was also amazing.....

[dmidkiff]

Patrick,
Thanks, for the process. I used v-bit and just squeezed the adhesive in and repeated until bubbles were gone. Will try your technic next project.
Dave