String Inlay - is it supposed to be so slow?

[Frederick Skelly]

I'm finding it very slow going to cut the grooves for the stringing. The first 1/32" of depth goes fine and I even get nice straight grooves. Then it really seems to slow down - the tool takes very little material off after that point and if I press down harder I get pits and potholes where it hangs up in the groove. In a way, it seems like all I'm doing is crumbling the material - it doesn't seem to take clean shavings. (Still can't post a pic - some problem on my end.)

1) Does cutting these grooves (less than 10" long and 1/16" wide) normally take a long time; i.e., is this just a time consuming hand tool task?

2) Do string inlay tools normally slice the wood or just sorta wear it off like mine does?

3) Any thoughts on what's going wrong? (My guess is that this thing isn't sharpened right.)

Background. First attempt at string inlay and didn't want to invest $350 in the Steve Latta set that LN sells. So I built the tool Michael Fortune wrote about in FWW#232, April 2013. It's made from a 0.040 thick scraper and has a cutter on one end and a chisel on the other. (LV sells some hand held inlay knives with plastic handles (items 05k.12.11. & 05k.12.21) that are functionally similar - Fortune's tool just puts both tools on one scraper.)

I'd sure appreciate some knowledgable advice. I'm seriously disappointed this was so slow and if that's normal for string inlay, I'll probably set it aside for good - just too time consuming.

Thanks guys!
Fred

[Mike Brady]

The cutter is sharpened like a cross-cut saw, and should have 2-3 teeth. Having it sharp is essential. When it is sharp, the cuts go pretty fast. You need 1/16 to 3/32 depth, and the inlay should stick in the groove with just finger pressure. I would not call it tedious work. Something must be off with your making the teeth in the scraper.

[Shawn Pixley]

I've never found string inlay to take long. The tool should cut not dust. Something doesn't seem to be as sharp as it might be. I made that tool and mine cuts quickly and deep. Did you get the Vee cut in the point cut to the edges?

[bill tindall]

1. I have seen Steve cut the trough for the string the length of a federal Leg in about 45 seconds. I am not much slower.
2. I have no idea what LN is selling for $350 but I didn't spend but a small fraction of this amount for a radius and straight line cutter from LN. I have never spent more than a minute cutting any sort of trough even in large drawers. I am finishing up the pattern for two Spice Box drawers and cutting the troughs is not the slowest part of the process.
3. Were I to do it over based on my current experience I would buy the LN radius cutter, probably 2 of them in fact, and make the straight line cutter. A section of 0.032" band saw blade mounted in a marking gauge works dandy.
5. For $50 you can buy a fence for a Dremel tool and cut straight troughs at miles per hour.

[Mike Allen1010]

The cutter is sharpened like a cross-cut saw, and should have 2-3 teeth. Having it sharp is essential. When it is sharp, the cuts go pretty fast. You need 1/16 to 3/32 depth, and the inlay should stick in the groove with just finger pressure. I would not call it tedious work. Something must be off with your making the teeth in the scraper.

Fred, I agree with Mike;Particular the idea that the tip of the cutter should be shaped like crosscut saw teeth. In other words – if viewed head-on, you'lll see two knife edge profiles. These are important because they sever the wood fibers when cutting cross grain.

I tried to make my own from from some saw plate but didn't really get very far. I am going to check out the article you referenced because I clearly need a little help.

I have the Lee Valley tool and to give you an idea of the size the teeth, I use a tiny, knife edge Japanese saw file to sharpen these, however my cutter is fairly narrow.. The biggest challenge for me with string inlay is making the stringing the right size (Both with and thickness) to fit the groove. I've tried gluing up commercially available veneers and cutting my own stringing from solid stock – just seems I don't know and easy simple way to do this. I must be doing something wrong In trying to slice off the stringing.

I'm with you Fred; string inlay is definitely something I would like to do more of if I was better/faster at it. I Have a "Line and Berry String Inlay" video from Steve Latta I've have watched a couple times, but still no joy. To quote George Clinton and Parliament from the 1970's funk song "I Never Learned to Swim"; "I can't quite catch rhythm of the strokes".

This gratuitously obscure music reference is purely for my own entertainment (and the hopes that my college roommate will see it and blow coffee out of his nose):).

Best, Mike

[Mike Henderson]

5. For $50 you can buy a fence for a Dremel tool and cut straight troughs at miles per hour.
This is the way I'd do it. Or for more money, get the MicroFence plunge base for a Dremel tool.

Mike

[Frederick Skelly]

Thank you guys. Clearly, it's gotta be me then and now that I know that, I can address that by trial and error until I get it right. So I'll go out to the shop and start that process now.

I'd like to do this Neander style, but falling back to dremel is an option I'll keep in my pocket. Thanks for the tip on that!

Fred

[mike holden]

Frederick, what everyone is missing is that you are using the corner of a scraper, NOT a small saw blade (Latta type tool).
The fortune tool is somewhat like an upside down v-tool.
This will take some time and effort to excavate a trough.
This is the trade-off between the right tool for the job - Latta type; and the cheap, make-do tool - Fortune type.
If you will never do another bit of stringing, stick with the scraper; If you want to do more, you can make Latta type tools yourself, or bite the bullet and buy them.

As re: the dremel/small router beware that the bits are fragile, buy several at a time. damhikt
Mike

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[Shawn Pixley]

Frederick, what everyone is missing is that you are using the corner of a scraper, NOT a small saw blade (Latta type tool).
The fortune tool is somewhat like an upside down v-tool.
This will take some time and effort to excavate a trough.
This is the trade-off between the right tool for the job - Latta type; and the cheap, make-do tool - Fortune type.

Mike, I was referring to the modified scraper. I can cut quite quickly with it. when building it the trick is to get that "V" notch and sides to be sharp like a chisel. Here's mine:

317642

Sorry for the upside down picture. I do my string inlay using several different tools depending upon the project. I have never used the Latta tool though I have the dvd. My favorite is using the router plane.

[Nelson Howe]

Hi Fred,
I'm no expert, but I built the Fortune tool, and had good luck with it. It isn't fast, but I didn't find it so slow as to be discouraging. Make sure its sharp. I also found that holding it at the right angle made some difference. You can apply a fair amount of pressure above the cutter as well if you need to.

Nelson

[David Ragan]

I have done a string inlay with the Latta set. Went great on the first try. I remember being surprised at how easy it was.

So true that you get what you pay for. If you're a real pro, you can make due with suboptimal tools. If you're me trying to do WW, fine tools make all the difference.

The above is a vast generalization. I have no experience with any other inlay tools.

[Frederick Skelly]

Again, thanks everyone! I'm seriously considering the Latta straight line cutter and radius cutter. But I'm a hard head and would really like to see my Fortune tool work. With that in mind...

Shawn & Nelson - can you tell me how long the teeth are after you filed the "V"? Mine are 1/2 mm and I'm trying to determine if that matters. If so, I need a smaller triangular needle file - maybe one suitable for filing very fine crosscut teeth - so I can get a deeper "V".

(Shawn, you were right. I didn't take the "V" all the way to the corners. When I did, it made a difference.)

Thanks guys,
Fred

[Nelson Howe]

I'd say mine is about .5mm. I used a file and a stone for the final honing.

Nelson

[Frank Drew]

For Neander fans, you might find one of Ulmia's dedicated stringing and inlay cutters on one of the online auction sites. It's a slick tool, rather like a marking gauge (beam, fence) with two beveled cutters you space apart the thickness of the desired groove, and a narrow chisel blade behind the cutters to clear the groove. You can also use it to cut the inlay itself but turning the cutter bevels out. I posted a picture of the tool in this thread from a few years ago:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?192182-String-inlay-instructions

Before I got it I used a Dremel with a fence and it worked fine, although it was a bit nerve-wracking worrying about screwing up the workpiece.