Any issue with cross-grained inlay?

[Joe Unni]

Hey all,

I've got a project coming up that MAY involve (my first go) hardwood inlay. In particular, I'm hoping to create a pair of drawer fronts of one species of wood and inlay a contrasting species. The hope is to run horizontal grain on the main part of the front and inlay a curve from the inside top corner of each to the outside bottom corners. In other words, I want to create an arch that spans both drawer fronts.

Are there any issues that I need to be concerned with?

Your insight is very much appreciated.

Thanks,
-joe

[tod evans]

joe if you must do cross grain inlay try to use a fairly stable substraight wood like mahogany, when you mix your hide glue add some glycerin to the hot mixture so as to give the glue some elastisizity(sp?) then cross your fingers.....02 tod

[Todd Burch]

First, it's not like the inlay that is a few thousands of an inch thick is going to warp the drawer front.

Second, you are going to glue it in with..... what? If you use yellow glue, it could creep. There are better glues than yellow glue for inlay work.

Third, you are going to let the glue cure fully, and I mean fully, before you sand the inlay flush... right?

Fourth, when it doubt, practice. You'll learn a whole lot more by doing this than reading about it! It doesn't hardly take any time to mock up a drawer front and put in inlay down. It doesn't have to be curved for practicing. You might learn that excess glue will screw a finish up - so how will you keep excess glue off the drawer front?

My concerns would be more along the lines of getting a perfect arc and making sure the inlay wasn't narrow along any part of the length. I might even make a double-wide draw front, run my router on a trammel or pattern to make the recess, then cut the blank in half for the two fronts. Perfect arc.

[Joe Unni]

...then cross your fingers...
Tod,
Not getting a warm and fuzzy feeling here. Am I destined for disaster?



First, it's not like the inlay that is a few thousands of an inch thick...
Todd,

First, great info regarding the double-wide drawer. Also, I'd like to expand on my original question. Can the inlay be ~1/8" to 3/16" thick with the peaks of the arches reaching ~3/4" thick? My thought was to have the inlay grow out of the drawer front and create a pull with the extra thickness.


...you'll learn a whole lot more by doing this than reading about it...

Agreed!! I do that on every project, but not having attempted inlay before, I've nothing to compare. I want to to practice within the scope of "do-able" and not waste time with a doomed technique.

Thanks again,
-joe

[Tom Jones III]

Tod,
Not getting a warm and fuzzy feeling here. Am I destined for disaster?
-joe

While you are getting good advice, don't worry about it too much. My first attempt at inlay worked just fine. Make a few practice pieces identical in every way to your final piece. I did a lot of things "wrong" and everything still worked fine.

[tod evans]

joe, maybe i read your post wrong? is this inlay you want to do going to be cross grain? using thick wood like you mention isn`t a big deal unless the grain is fighting itself. if you`re able to keep the grain running the same direction (or close) and use woods with similar swell/shrink properties you shouldn`t have any problems. problems arise when a fellow applies the inlay across the grain of the substraight, then when the substraight tries to move it must overcome the resistance of the cross grain inlay either by breaking the bond, breaking the inlay or splitting the actual substraight, this is why i suggested using an elastic type of glue and a fairly stable substraight...02 tod

[Joe Unni]

Thanks everyone for your responses.

It sounds like I'm good to go to just jump in!

And yes Tod, I will be using thick-ish material for the inlay and it will be going diagonally across the grain.

If I get the gig, I'll keep you guys posted.

Thanks again,
-joe