Cutting precision inlay strips

[Lou Morrissette]

I was recently tasked to make several hardware display boards by a local kitchen cabinet distributor. The customer wanted an inlayed contrasting color border, some of which were 3' long. Never having attempted anything like this before, I was at a loss for a method of cutting 3' long X 1/8" wide X 1/8" thick stock that had to be VERY accurate. After playing around with various methods, I tried one that was fairly simple that yielded very accurate, repeatable results.
I thought I'd share my findings and hope it comes in handy to those who encounter this problem. There may be better ways, but this one worked pretty slick. I was able to cut 60' of inlay in about an hour.

Take a skim cut on one edge of stock. Reverse the stock and take another skim cut on the opposite edge to ensure two parallel sides.

Pic 1. Loosen fence and snug stock between the fence and the blade.

Pic 2. Install a dial indicator on a mag base up against the fence and zero the indicator. To achieve the desired width of the inlay strip, move the fence towards the indicator a distance equal to the thickness of the blade (measure with a dial caliper) plus the desired width of the inlay strip and lock the fence.

Pic 3. Remove the indicator and cut the stock. You must install a zero clearance insert in the saw to prevent the cut strip from curling and use an adequate push block.

Pic 4. Strip cut. I achieved a variance of no more than .004 in 3 feet.

Pic 5. Installed inlay.

Good luck.

Lou

[Michael Ballent]

That's pretty clever, but I am wondering why you decided to do with this method? I would have just set the fence to 1/8" (probably even using the dial indicator) and run the board through until I ran out of material... But I also have the GRRR-Ripper... I would have thought that resetting the fence for every cut would get troublesome after a while. Just curious..

[Bob Nazro]

I like your method. It's precise. This is where the folks that have INCRA fences on their table saws have a real advantage. Set the cut and keep advancing the fence and locking it in 1/4" increments. I have done some limited inlay work and just used the fence tape and cut the splines and then sanded to fit it one was a bit wide. Great idea. Thanks..

[Lou Morrissette]

Michael,

Not having the gripper, I thought that a 1/8'X1/8" "arrow" between the fence and blade was a little risky. Advancing the fence was realy not that time consuming.

Lou

[Michael Ballent]

Hehehehe I figured that was what you were thinking after I wrote my response. Neat idea and thanks again for sharing :D With the gripper you really do have complete control with the cut, and things do not shift around, like the little 90º piece that is left behind on cut off part as you move the wood along the fence. I assume that you cut all the inlay longer than you needed.


Michael,

Not having the gripper, I thought that a 1/8'X1/8" "arrow" between the fence and blade was a little risky. Advancing the fence was realy not that time consuming.

Lou

[Tom Jones III]

I've been through the same problem before, although on a much smaller scale, and I will be going through it again soon. I ended up doing it much the same way you did, except I did not pass it through the TS twice to get the sides parallel. Was there a specific reason you didn't just use the jointer and then throw away the first strip, or was it just easier to run it through twice?

[Michael Ballent]

I would assume that it would be because its faster to just knock off 1/32-1/16 off on the TS in 2 passes...


I've been through the same problem before, although on a much smaller scale, and I will be going through it again soon. I ended up doing it much the same way you did, except I did not pass it through the TS twice to get the sides parallel. Was there a specific reason you didn't just use the jointer and then throw away the first strip, or was it just easier to run it through twice?

[Lou Morrissette]

Tom,

I'll have to admit I was a little timid passig 1/8" stock thru the jointer.:o

Lou

[Vaughn McMillan]

Good thinking to use the dial indicator, Lou. That's working with what you've got.

I've cut a lot of 1/8" x 3/4" x ~16" strips using a similar method with an Incra jig. I've also cut a lot of 1/4" wide stuff using the Grrripper as Michael mentioned. Both methods work well, and are safe if you're paying attention.

- Vaughn

[Jamie Buxton]

I notice that you don't have a splitter on the saw. This is an occasion where it really helps -- not as a safety issue, but as a yield improvement. A splitter which is the width of the kerf prevents that 1/8 x 1/8 strip from flopping around and hitting the blade.

[Doug Shepard]

On a neander-related slant to the same problem: Does anyone know what Steve Latta uses to cut his inlay strips? I caught an episode of the Woodwright Shop on PBS a couple weekends ago and the host had Steve Latta on demonstrating inlaying Federal style inlay. He had a few pretty slick hand tool jigs for quickly cutting the strips and doing the inlay. Unfortunately I blinked and missed the detail on exactly what he was doing to cut the strips. Whatever it was, it was VERY quick, perfectly sized, and no waste due to TS or BS blade kerf.

[Lou Morrissette]

Good point, Jamie. A splitter is one of those things I've been meaning to get but never get around to it. It would have helped in this case as I lost a few pieces to the blade.

Lou

[Vaughn McMillan]

Lou, the MicroJig splitter works real well with your saw. (I've got the same saw, and have never liked the factory splitter. I bought the regular and thin kerf MJ splitters, but I've only used the thin kerf one, since all my blades are thin.) Jamie is right about the splitter making a difference in the quality of cuts.

- Vaughn

[Lou Morrissette]

Vaughn,

Where did you buy your splitters? I've been putting it off for way too long.
BTW, how do you like your saw? I love mine. Can't beat it for the $$.

Lou

[Vaughn McMillan]

Lou, I believe I got my splitters from Peachtree Woodworking Supply (ptreeusa.com), but I see that Amazon and Rockler also have them for about the same price. The thin kerf model is about $20, and the standard kerf is about $15.

Gotta agree with you on the TS3650. I still haven't seen anything comparable for the money. :)

- Vaughn

[Brian Triplett]

Lou,
wood maganize had a table saw jig that help with problem. Basically they did the same thing you did expect they made a jig that fit in the mitre gage and had a block of wood on it that had a screw coming of the side so you could adjust it. The process was to set the screw head 1/8" or whatever you wanted away from the blade, slide your wood and fence over until the wood hit the screw, cut and repeat therefore having a uniform thickness and also not having to measure each cut. I can't remember what issue it was but i can get a pic of it to you later b/c I'm at work now.

[Lou Morrissette]

Brian,

I built that jig and use it to cut repetative strips that I use on trout nets that I build. It realy works good for that project but I found I could not get the degree of accuracy that I needed for the inlay. It appears that it takes a bit of finess (which I lack):( to get accurate, repeatable results.
Thanks for the suggestion.

Lou