Inlay outlines?

[alex grams]

I have been requested by the wife to make a family member to make a Hello Kitty Tea Tray....*sigh* But whatever! if it makes the wife happy it makes me happy.

Anyways, here is the image I want to make an inlay of:

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTT2FLkSxadpF4ekJYpukjHpqDwUbbWX jvwpLQrYGrITtRP3O9tyGhwB-Cq

My question is how to best do the dark outlines of the face? Would I just be better off to ignore the lines and do the solid colors? I think that would look odd and undefined.

The inlay part won't be that hard for me. the outlines in black look difficult.

Thoughts? Methods?

[Sean Hughto]

Just inlay into a tray size piece of gaboon ebony! ;-)

I think marquetry with some veneer would be the easiest way. Got a scroll saw?

[alex grams]

no scroll saw =/

[Sean Hughto]

Is this for a child? You might consider some shallow carving with gouges of the black lines and then using some paint to fill them with black and paint the red bow - a coat of clear sealer and you'd have a nice tray. It would be durable too - hot tea pots or spilled tea wouldn't do it much harm (unlike inlay or veneer).

[Jim Rimmer]

Thin strips of some ebonized wood bent around a steam pipe or soldering iron? I thought I had seen a post from you about bending wood so maybe you've got some experience. I've seen videos (can't remember where) of thin strips bent around a small pipe that was heated with steam(?) or with a large soldering iron, keeping the wood wet, not to facilitate bending but to prevent burning. Maybe practice with some before you go through the ebonizing process. I think real ebony would be too brittle.

[Paul Symchych]

Maybe cut out the face [the white part] and inlay it into an oversized sheet of something black, them trim away the excess black leaving the narrow strip of outline. Then inlay the whole thing into the tray. -??-

[Jerome Stanek]

v carve it fill with black and red epoxy sand smooth and finish

[John Coloccia]

You can inlay full size, and then come back and carve the outlines. Then fill with black epoxy (you can tint yourself or buy black epoxy...I buy mine from www.stewmac.com (http://www.stewmac.com)). You could also fill with dark wood dust and glue....maybe hot hide glue. CA would work well but you risk getting glue everywhere and making a finishing problem. The epoxy won't soak into the wood and will easily sand off.

[Terry Haslett]

How about black and red sharpie and decoupage it to the surface. :):):)

[alex grams]

I actually thought about a sharpie! hah!

Some good suggestions. I will consider a best approach.

This is actually for my wife's sister (age 32?)....

[Mike Henderson]

I agree with the posters who said carve it and fill with colored epoxy. You can use a very long epoxy and mix dry powder with the epoxy to get the color. Just make sure the epoxy is long so it doesn't set before you get it in.

Mike

[Roger Myers]

If you want to do inlay instead of epoxy, I would create a two layer base of a black dyed veneer and a cross-banded veneer. This would be larger than the entire picture. Create similar two layer veneers of the light color, and also of the red color. Then approach it like marquetry, pad cutting and in laying the interior pieces. Finally cut the outer profile and inlay the picture assembly into the tray. A scroll say makes it an easy task, but can also be done with a jewelry saw, fret saw, or coping saw with fine blade. Epoxy is the easier route, but depends on the effort you are willing to put in it and the demands of the client.