Inlay Banding Tips

Thanks, Charlie!

I have never tried this- mainly because I had no idea even how to start. You have given me the courage and knowledge to give it a try.

Lew

Thanks Charlie!!!!!!!

-- Only the Shadow knows....................

Thank you! and happy new year by the way. I will have to give this a try some day. Did you make the bands or buy them made?

-- All bleeding will eventually stop.

Actually, this is from a stash of really old stuff I picked up on eBay. I wrote about it here.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

Charles
Thanks for the post. Don’t cut yourself short, you really are a MASTER woodworker.
Regards
DAN

-- work from your heart and your spirit will live forever

Thanks from me too! You make it sound doable.

-- mtnwild (Jack), It's not what you see, it's how you see it.

Charlie,
Excellent job.
Roger

-- Roger Gaborski, http://www.gaborski.com

Great advice Charlie. Did you make the two tone banding? I’d like to try that technique. Actually the pool in the background looks very tempting when it minus 10 or 20 c these days. :)

-- Canadian Wood Chuck (Bruce)

Thanks Charlie. This was a nice primer on doing inlays. Like Lew, I have never tried this and been somewhat intimidated by the process but this definately looks doable to me.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

Thanks for the suggestions Charlie. A great job. Of course having all 4 corners match on banding means you need to design the space where the bands will appear so that they are an exact multiple of the pattern.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

If I can do it, it ain’t rocket science, folks. :-)

Karson, that’s why I said “line up the banding so that the pattern match will be identical on all four corners.” You can have all four corners look the same, but still not have the pattern be continuous as it rounds the corners. You are absolutely correct that the dimensions of the piece and placement of the banding would have to be planned in advance to make that happen.

Bruce, if you mean the wider bands, those are just strips that go all the way through…. not banding.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

Looks nice, Charlie.

-- CJIII Future cabinetmaker

Nice writeup Charlie. One thing I’ve found that works well for bandings that have a pattern is to cut the corners so they are identical and continuous around the bend. You’re actually cutting 2 pieces for each side, concentrating on the corners. Then at the midpoint of the inlay, cut the ends to get a symetrical piece on each end. This sometimes means you get a longer run of one color in the center, even skipping one of the pattern blocks, or a shorter pattern block in the center. But I think it’s less noticable at the center than breaking it up at the corners. Course, if you happen to get lucky enough that your pattern length works out to an even break with your channel length you can skip alll that.
The other thing I couldn’t do without are thse cheap plastic glue syringes for getting glue into the channel.

-- Use the fence Luke

Doug, that is a great tip…. I never thought of that, but the eyes are drawn to the corners. A little cheating in the middle of a long run would never be noticed.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

Thanks, Charlie!

-- I'm a wood magician... I can turn fine lumber into firewood before your very eyes! - http://www.woodworkersguide.com

another thanks to you and doug S.

Charlie, I liked your presentation of laying inlay. Although I have never done, it has given me some hopes that I can try it one day when I am better equiped.
Sharad

-- patanjali

Nice Charlie Keep Up the Good Work

-- Jim, Kentucky

Thanks Charlie, you give us all hope that we too can become woodworkers someday,lol.

-- Mike. mwurm13@yahoo.com

Charlie,

Great notes! I would also note that when making your own banding, which is not quite as difficult as you think once you get the technique down, that you can make it as thick as you want =)

WRT tablesaw/router, I vastly prefer the router, but thats my personal pref. If people want to use a TS, they should definitely look at a FTG blade (the forrest WW2 with FTG is superb), or a very flat dado stack, unless they’ve got a fancy euro saw with scoring knives =)

Jon, I’d agree with you about using the router. The only reason I used my saw on this project is because I didn’t have a small enough router bit with a 1/2” shank, and I didn’t feel like changing the collet on my table-mounted router.

I’ve read a couple of how-to’s on making banding. Simple patterns eem pretty starightforward, but I don’t know if I’d want to tackle some of the fancier stuff.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

NIce job Charlie , Your skill level is really advancing right now.
I got a handfull of banding at a trade show in the fall and have yet to run it on anything.
I may have to bookmark this one to get me going.
Thanks for the posting.

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

great job on this post charlie ! id agree with bob , it seems since ive been on here youve taken huge steps with every single project . that banding purchase has done great things for you . keep up the great work !

ps i dont pay as much attention to the corners i usually watch the center ! lol

Thanks, guys. I do have to say that the purchase of a full size table saw (as opposed to the old $89 Ryobi wonder) has made accuracy a WHOLE lot easier.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

Niiiice, and thanks for the tips. I’m in the planning stage of making a canopy and base for my son’s fish tank, and I was thinking that some banding might spice it up a bit. I’ve never done, and these tips will help. I’ll keep you posted on the project when it gets underway (hopefully soon!)

-- jdubo, Hartland Wisconsin

Hey Charles thanks for the tips very valuable information

-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop Southern Oregon