Crossgrain inlay options

[Mitch schiffer]

I am building a shuffleboard table and I need to come up with an inlay of some kind to designate the scoring lines. The top is made of solid maple and walnut. It is 1 1/2" thick and 20" wide. I'm concerned if I put a walnut inlay across the grain of the top it the inlay will not move as much as the top will with expansion and contaction. I also considered using brass or even just colored epoxy, but I still feel like I have the same problem. Am I just over thinking this? It appears from a Google search most are using a epoxy or plastic of some kind.

[Jamie Buxton]

Can you turn the walnut stock so that its grain direction is the same as the maple?

[Mitch schiffer]

Can you turn the walnut stock so that its grain direction is the same as the maple?

I hadn't thought about that. I suppose I could glue up several off cuts. I don't know how I would surface them after glue uo before inlaying the strips. I imagine the planer would tear it up.

[John TenEyck]

What Jamie said, align the inlay grain the same as the substrate. Lots of people doing epoxy have no clue how wood behaves. I saw a table where a guy poured an epoxy frame around a big live edge slab. I wonder how long that survived?

John

[Jamie Buxton]

I hadn't thought about that. I suppose I could glue up several off cuts. I don't know how I would surface them after glue uo before inlaying the strips. I imagine the planer would tear it up.

Inlay it proud of the maple surface, and rough if you want to. After the inlay is glued in, hand plane it down close to flush. Power sand it flush.

[mreza Salav]

I have several tables and beds that have cross grain inlay. They are between 7-15 years and none has shown any problem.

[John TenEyck]

I have several tables and beds that have cross grain inlay. They are between 7-15 years and none has shown any problem.

In solid wood or veneered plywood, etc?

John

[Bradley Gray]

You could trim the inlays flush with a router. Prepare a piece of plywood with a hole bigger than the inlays. Set the router bit to the thickness of the plywood and trim.

[mreza Salav]

All solid. 15 years without any issues is long enough for me.

[roger wiegand]

As long as the inlay is thin (less than 1/8") this doesn't seem to be much of a problem. We saw 600 year old pieces in Florence that were still holding up just fine.

[mreza Salav]

I make them less than 1/8 thick.

[Kent A Bathurst]

I'm wondering if today's house construction - insulated and tight against air infiltration - plus HVAC unit wouldn't keep indoor humidity in a relative narrow range. Less seasonal movement of substrate wood.