Inlay banding Techniques

[Dave Tinley]

Since I build mostly Mission style furniture I havn't had much chance to try adding some inlay banding.

Using a router- what is your preffered technique?
Do you use a edge guide ? A staright edge?
Or some kind of template?

Also, would it be fesable to make a "L" shaped jig, similar to a carpenters square, where you could route two sides, then flip the jig and do the other two sides ??

Thanks
Dave

[Steve Jenkins]

Dave, if you are just inlaying a straight line parallel to an edge then an edge guide will work fine. Just be sure to hold it tight to the edge and really watch at the corners so you don't run long.

[Nate Rogers]

Use your router to remove the bulk of the material, then use your chisel to get a really nice fit. Jigs are a lot of work, in the end the hand tool will be much faster and leave you with much higher quality work. But practice a scrap piece before you start working on your actual leg.

Nate

[Dewey Torres]

1) Get a piece of scrap, the same width as your leg.
2) make same pencil marks on the leg where you think the banding will look good.
3) set the guide and depth on your router (make sure to leave the inlay proud by a small fraction)
4) test the fit on the scrap.
5) If happy with results, duplicate efforts on your leg, if not repeat step one.

Chances are your banding may take multiple passes to achieve the right groove width. Sometimes commercial inlay is "dead on" and you have the correct bit to do it it one pass. If not you will have to adjust the guide for the second pass so make sure you have already made the first pass on all of your "real legs" before you adjust the guide.

Here is a few pics of some simple homemade stuff I did for the top of a wine box (last project).

Dewey