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110K views 108 replies 53 participants last post by  RooseveltKoepke 
#1 ·
Introduction and Invitation to All.

Hello to all and all are Welcome,

Intro:

Hi, my name is Kory Kiker and a couple of weeks ago Ms. Debbie contacted me about conducting an online class for those interested in learning the art of intarsia. I was very excited about the chance to share a few things I have learned in the last three years of doing intarsia art. Before intarsia I did a lot of wood carving so I hope this helps give each project more depth and definition. I will tell you now that most of the things I've learned is through trial and error, not by reading books or research. That being said, most of everything I will relate to you is through personal experience so it will be very easy for everyone to follow and learn because it will not get too technical (simple-stupid is me in a nutshell). This is a beginner's project for those who want to learn the basics.

About Intarsia:

Intarsia art started in Italy in the 1600 and combines the use of different woods and wood colors made in different depths to create a 3D picture. You generally start with a pattern and use that to cut out your pieces. I like to use wood that is at least an inch thick so you can add a good amount of depth to your project but that is a personal preference. You can also add spacers behind some pieces to add to your depth. In my opinion, the key to make your projects pop is the shaping of your pieces and your use of depth. We have all seen intarsia pieces that look flat and I try to avoid that as much as possible. I use a variety of sanders, rotary tools and carving tools to add definition to each piece. I think of it like you're creating a carving with many pieces of wood. That being said, it does take more time and patience to create a project you will be proud of.

Our Project:





Link for Plans:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/15Z4qVzer-yEXw9RwI6c1LW6PCHjGF_5z8xdRbG2yf4w/edit

(If you have problems printing this please send me a note and I will send you the pdf)

This is a beginner project that has thirty pieces and should be a fun project for everyone. I will go fairly slowly so everyone can keep up. I will try to post each class about a week apart. To make this affordable to everyone I went back to the basics and used the tools I started with. The only tools I used to make these projects were a scroll saw, dremel tool, and a drill. I made two of these frogs, one is made all out of poplar and stained and the other is out of exotic wood. People just starting this might not have access to exotic woods and don't want to invest that much money until you see if you like this art form. To accommodate everyone, I will go through the process of making both and give you tips on each and you can make both or either projects. I do have some videos of the process, but I have tried to limit them due to some people having slower download speeds.

Things you will need:

Tools:
Scroll saw

Dremel tool (flex shaft helps but not necessary)

Drill or drill press


Supplies:

Pattern

Spray adhesive

Sand paper
Your Choice
Polyurethane spray (gloss and clear satin)

CA glue

Wood glue

Sanding tools for dremel

Your choice of wood

Backer board


This should be a fun project for everyone and I look forward to having a great time doing this. Please follow all safety protocols (proper ventilation, safety glasses, and all saw guards). If you have any questions or comments please leave me a message or send me a private message. Again if you have any problems with the download of the pattern please send me a private message with your email address and I will send you the pdf version.

I will start the class after April 10 to give everyone time to get their supplies and wood.

Thanks for your interest.
 
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#27 ·
I went to Olson's site and it looks like the have the reverse tooth but not the double/reverse in the pinned blades. As long as you don't use too hard of a wood (ebony or purple heart) those should work fine. If you do want to use the harder woods, just go slow and it will take a few more blades.
 
#30 ·
My 2 cents on blade selection… if you are using a big old powerhouse scrollsaw like mine:
http://vintagemachinery.org/photoindex/images/8316-A.jpg

I have some advice… you will not like reverse tooth blades. From what I understand all the new scrollsaws arc the blade back and forth ever so slightly, due to their geometry. The old ones however, use a crankshaft on the bottom with an overhead spring. What you get is true "up and down" movement. My experience is that the reverse tooth pull the "usually thick" workpieces off the table as your fingers get tired from fighting these reverse teeth pulling straight up… hope that makes sense.
 
#32 ·
This is a very timely tutorial for me, as I am just starting to do some intarsia. I cut a practice bird pattern a couple of days ago (my first try at this), and after sanding the contours I am already hooked.I am really Looking forward to your series and thank you for sharing your skills with us.

I am glad you are not looking down on staining as an alternative. I can't get a wide selection of tropical hardwoods here due to severe import restrictions, so stain will have to be good enough for me.
 
#34 ·
As always I'm always busy whenever someone puts up a tutorial like this that is about something that I would like to do so I'm not committing formally but I'm certainly going to follow along. I may even try to scrape up the time to do it. I do already have most of what is needed but I just now saw this this morning for the first time. Kory, I will see what I can do.

helluvawreck
https://woodworkingexpo.wordpress.com
 
#37 ·
I have also always wanted to learn intarsia. I have bought a few books but just cannot seem to get it. I thank you for doing this class. I do much better with hands on learning than by book. My sisters from N.C. are visiting me in June and one of them wants a rooster and the other an angel. I hope that I can learn enough from your class to be able to make the projects for my sisters. I already have the patterns. I just am not sure of the intarsia process. So again, I thank you Kory for your willingness to help other people. Good Day. I am originally from N.C. Kory. Another TarHeel.
 
#39 ·
I'm a beginner and this tutorial is exactly what I was looking for ( for which I thank you), unfortunately when I went to the link for the pattern only numbers came out, if you need my mail to send me the pattern is iamfernis@hotmail.com
thank you in advance for your help
 
#40 ·
Yofwe, open the link. Look at the top for a link concerning last edit. A pop up window will show changes. Click on a change a few changes back and you will get the pattern.
 
#41 ·
yes Bill, thank you
this is the first time I see an intarsia pattern and I'm confused because is only in two dimensions, looking at the finished work it's more or less easy to figure out where the different elevations are and how the different shapes, curvatures, etc. should look like
Suppose all one have is this pattern to work with, no Kory's tutorial or a look at the finished work. For somebody who isn't a novice like me, would this pattern as it is be enough to come out with the frog as shown finished?
Another way to put my question I guess would be: "what are the different elements or information an intarsia plan or pattern should have?"
all I see is two dimensiĂłn drawing, Wood selection and grain direction.
Please don't get me wrong, I'm not in any way criticizing what Kory is so kindly doing, I'm just trying to learn what it seems a wonderful craft. Just think, 10 days ago I didn't even know the word intarsia existed!
Thank you in advance for your help
 
#42 ·
Sorry, can't answer your questions. I have never done Intarsia . Just favorited this thread in case I want to give it a try someday. Jump in and give it a try.
 
#44 ·
Preparing Your Wood and Pattern for Cutting

Intro:

Hello to all and welcome to the first installment of Intarsia Basics. Before we can start cutting we need to select the wood we want to use and get our pattern ready.

Wood Choices:

I prefer to start with stock that is one inch thick because that gives you a lot of depth that you can work with. It will require a little more sanding on some areas but it will help to give your piece a 3D look. It is your choice if you prefer to stain your wood to achieve the colors or use exotic wood. It is hard to tell the difference from pictures, but here are examples of both.

Exotic Woods
Wood Creative arts Art Frog True frog


Stained
Leg Wood Gesture Paint Art


If you're just starting intarsia, I would suggest staining your wood to keep your costs down. After you have gotten hooked and done a piece or two I would highly recommend to give exotic wood a try. Half the fun for me is to find just the right color and grain pattern for a specific area of my pattern that I'm making. I will make a pattern with some woods in mind, but change my mind 10 times after looking at the different woods and grain patterns. I will show examples of both throughout this class and you can make your own choice.

I used poplar for my wood to be stained, but any softer, light wood will work.

Sky Cloud Handwriting Wood Rectangle


For exotic woods I used lignum, ebony, aspen, blood wood, curly maple, and teak.

Wood Wood stain Hardwood Plank Flooring


Preparing your pattern:

If I purchase a pattern I will fold it into sections and put in on the printer to make copies of each section of the pattern if it will not fit onto a single page. It takes a little practice to make sure you don't print one piece onto two of the pages and sometimes you might have to tape two sections together on a large piece. If I make my own pattern I will print it out and then enlarge with the printer in basically the same way. With this pattern I enlarged it to 125% for the size I wanted and was able to keep it on two pages. Then I made 4 copies of each and cut out each piece of the pattern.

Organism Gesture Art Font Rectangle


Gesture Art Font Plant Drawing


After you have each piece of your pattern cut out you will need to separate them by color (wood) if you're not staining. Then using adhesive spray you can glue your pattern to your wood.

Tin Aluminum can Tin can Fluid Alcoholic beverage


Here you can see how to glue your pattern onto your wood (stained and exotic). Make sure to pay attention to your grain pattern and match it up with your pattern direction to improve your final result.

Brown Wood Art Floor Flooring


Wood Creative arts Art Font Pattern


One thing you can do that will help your saw blade life and keep the wood from burning while you're cutting your pieces out is to put regular scotch tape over your pattern after gluing. I can't explain how this works but it does.

Automotive lighting Amber Wood Gesture Finger


The last thing you need to do before cutting is to make all of your pilot holes for the areas that will need it. Nostrils and eyes will be the most common for drilling.

Wood Flooring Automotive tire Art Font


Bumper Wood Automotive exterior Gas Automotive tire


This will help you get you started and gives you some different options. We will start cutting on the next section, so please let me know if you have any questions.
 

Attachments

#45 ·
Preparing Your Wood and Pattern for Cutting

Intro:

Hello to all and welcome to the first installment of Intarsia Basics. Before we can start cutting we need to select the wood we want to use and get our pattern ready.

Wood Choices:

I prefer to start with stock that is one inch thick because that gives you a lot of depth that you can work with. It will require a little more sanding on some areas but it will help to give your piece a 3D look. It is your choice if you prefer to stain your wood to achieve the colors or use exotic wood. It is hard to tell the difference from pictures, but here are examples of both.

Exotic Woods
Wood Creative arts Art Frog True frog


Stained
Leg Wood Gesture Paint Art


If you're just starting intarsia, I would suggest staining your wood to keep your costs down. After you have gotten hooked and done a piece or two I would highly recommend to give exotic wood a try. Half the fun for me is to find just the right color and grain pattern for a specific area of my pattern that I'm making. I will make a pattern with some woods in mind, but change my mind 10 times after looking at the different woods and grain patterns. I will show examples of both throughout this class and you can make your own choice.

I used poplar for my wood to be stained, but any softer, light wood will work.

Sky Cloud Handwriting Wood Rectangle


For exotic woods I used lignum, ebony, aspen, blood wood, curly maple, and teak.

Wood Wood stain Hardwood Plank Flooring


Preparing your pattern:

If I purchase a pattern I will fold it into sections and put in on the printer to make copies of each section of the pattern if it will not fit onto a single page. It takes a little practice to make sure you don't print one piece onto two of the pages and sometimes you might have to tape two sections together on a large piece. If I make my own pattern I will print it out and then enlarge with the printer in basically the same way. With this pattern I enlarged it to 125% for the size I wanted and was able to keep it on two pages. Then I made 4 copies of each and cut out each piece of the pattern.

Organism Gesture Art Font Rectangle


Gesture Art Font Plant Drawing


After you have each piece of your pattern cut out you will need to separate them by color (wood) if you're not staining. Then using adhesive spray you can glue your pattern to your wood.

Tin Aluminum can Tin can Fluid Alcoholic beverage


Here you can see how to glue your pattern onto your wood (stained and exotic). Make sure to pay attention to your grain pattern and match it up with your pattern direction to improve your final result.

Brown Wood Art Floor Flooring


Wood Creative arts Art Font Pattern


One thing you can do that will help your saw blade life and keep the wood from burning while you're cutting your pieces out is to put regular scotch tape over your pattern after gluing. I can't explain how this works but it does.

Automotive lighting Amber Wood Gesture Finger


The last thing you need to do before cutting is to make all of your pilot holes for the areas that will need it. Nostrils and eyes will be the most common for drilling.

Wood Flooring Automotive tire Art Font


Bumper Wood Automotive exterior Gas Automotive tire


This will help you get you started and gives you some different options. We will start cutting on the next section, so please let me know if you have any questions.
Superb, hope your hand is feeling better. I will get crack'n with the templates and the cutting.
 

Attachments

#63 ·
Let's Do Some Cutting!

Thanks for joining us for the third installment of "Intarsia Basics" and this is where it starts to get really fun. Cutting out the pattern is one of the best parts of doing this kind of art. It takes a little practice to get used to using your saw. You can look up some practice patterns or just make some zig zags, loop the loops, straight lines, gentle curves, and circles on a piece of paper and glue to a practice board. Cut out some of these and you will start getting used to the "feel "of your saw.

You can start out like I did with a Porter Cable or Hitachi from Lowe's or Home Depot for less than $180. After a couple of years and a few saws that I wore out I took the plunge and purchased an Excalibur for upwards of $1000.

Hood Motor vehicle Automotive tire Wood Bumper


Yes, it has some advantages (straighter cuts, faster blade changes) over the less expensive models. Make sure this is what you want to put a lot of time into before spending that kind of money. No matter what saw you have I suggest a foot petal on an off switch. It makes it easy to start and stop your machine without having to remove your hands from your project. You can purchase one at Woodcraft for $25 or go to Harbor Freight and they have the same thing for about $8.

Brown Wood Motor vehicle Gas Auto part


After that, blades come next. I use the Olsen Double/Reverse PGT (Precision Ground Tooth) in a .049" wide X .018" thick X 6/9 Rev. TPI for most of the work with thicker or harder woods.

Brown Wood Font Hardwood Wood stain


Your blade selection is COMPLETELY up to your personal preference. I suggest you purchase a few different kinds and play with them to find out what will work best for you and your scroll saw. I started with the Double/Reverse blade and that is what I am most comfortable with, it might be a different blade for you. Make sure to clean your blades before putting them in your saw if your using pinless blades. There is oil on them and if you clean it off it will prevent your blade from slipping.

The next thing you need to do is check to make sure you table is square and DO THIS OFTEN. With scroll saws that the table tilts the vibration of the saw will cause the table to shift during cutting. Do not depend on the scale on the saw to adjust it to 0, use a square.

Wood Floor Gas Flooring Composite material


If your table is off just a little while working with the thicker wood, it will cause you pieces not to fit together when you're done.

Here is a quick video of me cutting out a piece and it will show you some methods I use for some cuts that will make your project look better and save some time.

http://s1196.photobucket.com/albums/aa418/tireman11/?action=view&current=class014.mp4

Note: At the end of cutting out a piece I will check to make sure it slides easly back and forth. If it does not then your table is not square and your cutting at an angle.

As you can see when I have a 90 degree outside cut I prefer to cut past the pattern and turn your blade around in the excess wood, then continue your cutting.

This all takes practice and I will not tell you there is a right or wrong way to cut out your pattern. Here are some examples of how I will tackle an angle that is too tight to just turn your piece.

Jagged Edges

Wood Art Table Paint Circle


Wood Circle Window Hardwood Wood stain


Inside Tight

Automotive lighting Window Vehicle door Circle Tints and shades


Wood Table Tints and shades Art Wood stain


There are going to be some areas that require you to drill a pilot hole and do an inside cut when one piece is surrounded by another. Most commonly this will be in eyes and nostrils. This might require a smaller blade than what you're using on the rest of the project.

Art Paint Space Wood Paper


Wood Art Tints and shades Circle Font


Wood Art Font Tints and shades Circle


Orange Wood Art Font Painting


After each piece is cut you can see each piece individually.
Exotic

Wood Rectangle Font Creative arts Art


Poplar to be stained

Wood Font Art Cookie cutter Tints and shades


After everything is cut out you can put your pieces together and see how your project is starting to look like. At this time, check to make sure you have a good fit with all your pieces.

Wood Gesture Creative arts Fish Art


One tip that will help if your pieces are not matching up perfectly is to TIGHTLY hold the two pieces together and run you blade between them on a slower speed and shave off small sections to make pieces match up better. Practice this because this is really easy to mess up if you get off just a little. If it is just a minor gap you can sand out the difference.

Next time we will start looking at shaping and adding shims to give your project some depth, hope to see ya there.
 

Attachments

#64 ·
Let's Do Some Cutting!

Thanks for joining us for the third installment of "Intarsia Basics" and this is where it starts to get really fun. Cutting out the pattern is one of the best parts of doing this kind of art. It takes a little practice to get used to using your saw. You can look up some practice patterns or just make some zig zags, loop the loops, straight lines, gentle curves, and circles on a piece of paper and glue to a practice board. Cut out some of these and you will start getting used to the "feel "of your saw.

You can start out like I did with a Porter Cable or Hitachi from Lowe's or Home Depot for less than $180. After a couple of years and a few saws that I wore out I took the plunge and purchased an Excalibur for upwards of $1000.

Hood Motor vehicle Automotive tire Wood Bumper


Yes, it has some advantages (straighter cuts, faster blade changes) over the less expensive models. Make sure this is what you want to put a lot of time into before spending that kind of money. No matter what saw you have I suggest a foot petal on an off switch. It makes it easy to start and stop your machine without having to remove your hands from your project. You can purchase one at Woodcraft for $25 or go to Harbor Freight and they have the same thing for about $8.

Brown Wood Motor vehicle Gas Auto part


After that, blades come next. I use the Olsen Double/Reverse PGT (Precision Ground Tooth) in a .049" wide X .018" thick X 6/9 Rev. TPI for most of the work with thicker or harder woods.

Brown Wood Font Hardwood Wood stain


Your blade selection is COMPLETELY up to your personal preference. I suggest you purchase a few different kinds and play with them to find out what will work best for you and your scroll saw. I started with the Double/Reverse blade and that is what I am most comfortable with, it might be a different blade for you. Make sure to clean your blades before putting them in your saw if your using pinless blades. There is oil on them and if you clean it off it will prevent your blade from slipping.

The next thing you need to do is check to make sure you table is square and DO THIS OFTEN. With scroll saws that the table tilts the vibration of the saw will cause the table to shift during cutting. Do not depend on the scale on the saw to adjust it to 0, use a square.

Wood Floor Gas Flooring Composite material


If your table is off just a little while working with the thicker wood, it will cause you pieces not to fit together when you're done.

Here is a quick video of me cutting out a piece and it will show you some methods I use for some cuts that will make your project look better and save some time.

http://s1196.photobucket.com/albums/aa418/tireman11/?action=view&current=class014.mp4

Note: At the end of cutting out a piece I will check to make sure it slides easly back and forth. If it does not then your table is not square and your cutting at an angle.

As you can see when I have a 90 degree outside cut I prefer to cut past the pattern and turn your blade around in the excess wood, then continue your cutting.

This all takes practice and I will not tell you there is a right or wrong way to cut out your pattern. Here are some examples of how I will tackle an angle that is too tight to just turn your piece.

Jagged Edges

Wood Art Table Paint Circle


Wood Circle Window Hardwood Wood stain


Inside Tight

Automotive lighting Window Vehicle door Circle Tints and shades


Wood Table Tints and shades Art Wood stain


There are going to be some areas that require you to drill a pilot hole and do an inside cut when one piece is surrounded by another. Most commonly this will be in eyes and nostrils. This might require a smaller blade than what you're using on the rest of the project.

Art Paint Space Wood Paper


Wood Art Tints and shades Circle Font


Wood Art Font Tints and shades Circle


Orange Wood Art Font Painting


After each piece is cut you can see each piece individually.
Exotic

Wood Rectangle Font Creative arts Art


Poplar to be stained

Wood Font Art Cookie cutter Tints and shades


After everything is cut out you can put your pieces together and see how your project is starting to look like. At this time, check to make sure you have a good fit with all your pieces.

Wood Gesture Creative arts Fish Art


One tip that will help if your pieces are not matching up perfectly is to TIGHTLY hold the two pieces together and run you blade between them on a slower speed and shave off small sections to make pieces match up better. Practice this because this is really easy to mess up if you get off just a little. If it is just a minor gap you can sand out the difference.

Next time we will start looking at shaping and adding shims to give your project some depth, hope to see ya there.
Great blog Kory. Cutting past the point and turning in the waste sure saves a lot of grief. I cut about the same way as you do. I also have an Excalibur, which I consider the best quality tool in my shop. I really splurged for that one, but I have never regretted it. Foot pedals are not allowed in Norway (at least for hobbyists), I wish I had one, but it hasn't been a big problem so far.

I have converted a quite detailed fantasy drawing by my son to an intarsia pattern which I am currently sawing out the parts for. I am trying to get the grain directions more or less correct and I will need to lower/elevate some of the pieces, but I am finding out that it is not so easy deciding which ones to do. That is part of the artistry bit that I lack, so I am looking forward to how you make those judgements.

This has me really fired up and I am enjoying the work. I will have to use mostly pine for my work. I found a website where they use pine and there are many great examples in their various galleries showing very clever use of the grain patterns to augment their designs. Here is the link in case you want to have a look. They have more than intarsia so you have to scroll through their galleries to see their intarsia work.

http://picturesinwood.co.uk/1112.html

Looking forward to the next lesson.
 

Attachments

#73 ·
Part 4 Coming Soon (Sorry)!!!!

I just wanted to update on the status of the class and inform every one of the delay. For those of you that do not know, I had a misfortunate (stupid?) accident and broke a bone in my right hand a couple of weeks ago. I was hoping that I had progressed far enough beforehand that it would not affect the class. Unfortunately the bones are not healing correctly and it is taking longer for ir it to heal. I tried again tonight, but do not have enough dexterity or hand strength to sand while I'm still in the cast. Sorry for the delay for those following along and I will post the next section ASAP. Again, I apologize.
 
#83 ·
Welcome back, Let's Start Adding Spacers and Shaping Our Pieces

Thanks for joining in again and I apologize for the delay. Hand is doing a lot better and it feels great to be back in the shop. Thanks for your patience and your encouragement to get better.

In this section we will focus on shaping and sanding our pieces. In my opinion, this is the most important part of the process. Depth is what makes a piece really stand out and the more depth you use in your project the better you're going to like the end result. We have all seen intarsia pieces that look flat and if you put the extra time into adding spacers, sanding a little more, and shaping you will be much happier with your project when you're done.

When I started this project I wanted to show that you only need some basic tools. These tools are the only ones I had when I started doing intarsia and it progressed from there. To create this project the only electric tools I used were a drill, scroll saw and Dremel tools. So, you can make some very nice projects without having to sell your first born.

Sports equipment Wood Automotive tire Bicycle part Fender


Wood Tool Burin Auto part Metal


Wood Flooring Automotive tire Art Font


Before we start shaping pieces we need to put your spacers in if you want them to add depth. If you're not familiar with adding spacers it is using some plywood behind certain pieces of your project to add height to an area. Here is a series of pictures to show how I put spacers behind the eyes for the frog that will show you better than I can explain it in words.

Eye Wood Art Eyelash Tints and shades


Gesture Wood Finger Tints and shades Art


Brown Amber Wood Tints and shades Art


Wood Cylinder Tints and shades Gas Auto part


Brown Wood Ingredient Rectangle Cuisine


Wood Beige Tints and shades Natural landscape Landscape


Hat Wood Headgear Tints and shades Circle


Tableware Drinkware Dishware Wood Cup


Cork Bottle stopper & saver Wood Tints and shades Gas


You can use as thick or thin plywood as you want, I suggest using thicker than you think needed because you can always sand it down to you desired height.

I did not get a good picture of it, but I also put a ÂĽ spacer behind the left hand of the frog to raise it up a little more.

You can also get creative with spacing out your pieces like I did on the rear end of the frog. Rather than using a spacer I glued two of the pieces together before sanding. You can do this when one piece meets another that you want to raise on at least 3 sides.

Wood Rectangle Tints and shades Metal Brick


Wood Gas Machine Metal Plywood


It is your choice of what areas you would want to put spacers behind, just remember that it will not look good if it is not surrounded by other pieces. You don't want to use spacers on the outside pieces of your project because you will be able to see them when finished. Make sure not to raise a piece too high that a gap will form to the next piece. You can glue two pieces together if you want to raise any outside pieces if it is necessary (example: see Koryk's project page and look at the lazy dragons toe nails)
.
After you have added you spacers you can start shaping the individual pieces.

Dremel tools were used for almost all of the shaping on this project and the attachments for them are readily available at your local hardware store (Lowe's or Home Depot). Here are the ones I used for this project.

Font Wood Circle Metal Gas


Start out with your small drum sander attachment with the 60 grit sand paper (408) to do the major shaping. This is a personal choice of how you want to shape your pieces, just try to picture in your mind the whole project and how that particular piece will fit in it. Do a couple of pieces a little at a time and fit them together to see if you like the results, you can always go back and sand some more.

Musical instrument Wood Wood stain Hardwood Varnish


When you're trying to meet two pieces together like on the mouth you need to sand out the first piece to your liking then mark it on the other to make them match up. This will help with the basic shape and then you can fine tune it with your other steps.

Wood Gesture Finger Thumb Tints and shades


Once you have gotten the basic shape you're looking for you can switch to the 120 sand paper for finer sanding (432). After that you can put the drum sander to the side for now.

Even after that, some of the curved pieces will still not be completely smooth and it is time to use your 120 grit flop sander (503). I prefer to do all the pieces in each step before moving to the next because it requires a lot less changing attachments on you Dremel tool if you only have one. I know some artists that do each individual piece start to finish then go to the next and I have tried it, but it leaves little room to adjust if your pieces do not look right. This is a slow process and sometimes that will help you because it give you time to reflect and revise as needed.

You can use EZ4725A attachment after that for those hard to reach areas, but be careful on your Dremel tool speed. If you have the speed up too high it will really gouge out an area if the wood is soft.

Sorry to tell you that you are not through sanding yet, but the end is in sight. It is time to hand sand each piece and you can go to whatever grit you want as long as it is at least 180 to get to the smoothness you want. I am known as a bit of a masochist and have gone all the way up to 2400 grit on some of my bigger pieces, but this is a choice you can make for your project.

After your spacers and shaping you should end up with your basic shape of your project.

Wood Gesture Creative arts Art Sculpture


In the next lesson we will cover staining (if needed), adding your backboard, final prep, and finishing. Hope to see ya there.
 

Attachments

#84 ·
Welcome back, Let's Start Adding Spacers and Shaping Our Pieces

Thanks for joining in again and I apologize for the delay. Hand is doing a lot better and it feels great to be back in the shop. Thanks for your patience and your encouragement to get better.

In this section we will focus on shaping and sanding our pieces. In my opinion, this is the most important part of the process. Depth is what makes a piece really stand out and the more depth you use in your project the better you're going to like the end result. We have all seen intarsia pieces that look flat and if you put the extra time into adding spacers, sanding a little more, and shaping you will be much happier with your project when you're done.

When I started this project I wanted to show that you only need some basic tools. These tools are the only ones I had when I started doing intarsia and it progressed from there. To create this project the only electric tools I used were a drill, scroll saw and Dremel tools. So, you can make some very nice projects without having to sell your first born.

Sports equipment Wood Automotive tire Bicycle part Fender


Wood Tool Burin Auto part Metal


Wood Flooring Automotive tire Art Font


Before we start shaping pieces we need to put your spacers in if you want them to add depth. If you're not familiar with adding spacers it is using some plywood behind certain pieces of your project to add height to an area. Here is a series of pictures to show how I put spacers behind the eyes for the frog that will show you better than I can explain it in words.

Eye Wood Art Eyelash Tints and shades


Gesture Wood Finger Tints and shades Art


Brown Amber Wood Tints and shades Art


Wood Cylinder Tints and shades Gas Auto part


Brown Wood Ingredient Rectangle Cuisine


Wood Beige Tints and shades Natural landscape Landscape


Hat Wood Headgear Tints and shades Circle


Tableware Drinkware Dishware Wood Cup


Cork Bottle stopper & saver Wood Tints and shades Gas


You can use as thick or thin plywood as you want, I suggest using thicker than you think needed because you can always sand it down to you desired height.

I did not get a good picture of it, but I also put a ÂĽ spacer behind the left hand of the frog to raise it up a little more.

You can also get creative with spacing out your pieces like I did on the rear end of the frog. Rather than using a spacer I glued two of the pieces together before sanding. You can do this when one piece meets another that you want to raise on at least 3 sides.

Wood Rectangle Tints and shades Metal Brick


Wood Gas Machine Metal Plywood


It is your choice of what areas you would want to put spacers behind, just remember that it will not look good if it is not surrounded by other pieces. You don't want to use spacers on the outside pieces of your project because you will be able to see them when finished. Make sure not to raise a piece too high that a gap will form to the next piece. You can glue two pieces together if you want to raise any outside pieces if it is necessary (example: see Koryk's project page and look at the lazy dragons toe nails)
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After you have added you spacers you can start shaping the individual pieces.

Dremel tools were used for almost all of the shaping on this project and the attachments for them are readily available at your local hardware store (Lowe's or Home Depot). Here are the ones I used for this project.

Font Wood Circle Metal Gas


Start out with your small drum sander attachment with the 60 grit sand paper (408) to do the major shaping. This is a personal choice of how you want to shape your pieces, just try to picture in your mind the whole project and how that particular piece will fit in it. Do a couple of pieces a little at a time and fit them together to see if you like the results, you can always go back and sand some more.

Musical instrument Wood Wood stain Hardwood Varnish


When you're trying to meet two pieces together like on the mouth you need to sand out the first piece to your liking then mark it on the other to make them match up. This will help with the basic shape and then you can fine tune it with your other steps.

Wood Gesture Finger Thumb Tints and shades


Once you have gotten the basic shape you're looking for you can switch to the 120 sand paper for finer sanding (432). After that you can put the drum sander to the side for now.

Even after that, some of the curved pieces will still not be completely smooth and it is time to use your 120 grit flop sander (503). I prefer to do all the pieces in each step before moving to the next because it requires a lot less changing attachments on you Dremel tool if you only have one. I know some artists that do each individual piece start to finish then go to the next and I have tried it, but it leaves little room to adjust if your pieces do not look right. This is a slow process and sometimes that will help you because it give you time to reflect and revise as needed.

You can use EZ4725A attachment after that for those hard to reach areas, but be careful on your Dremel tool speed. If you have the speed up too high it will really gouge out an area if the wood is soft.

Sorry to tell you that you are not through sanding yet, but the end is in sight. It is time to hand sand each piece and you can go to whatever grit you want as long as it is at least 180 to get to the smoothness you want. I am known as a bit of a masochist and have gone all the way up to 2400 grit on some of my bigger pieces, but this is a choice you can make for your project.

After your spacers and shaping you should end up with your basic shape of your project.

Wood Gesture Creative arts Art Sculpture


In the next lesson we will cover staining (if needed), adding your backboard, final prep, and finishing. Hope to see ya there.
Thanks. I have been wanting to learn this. It is a very artistic method.
 

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#95 ·
We are Almost There!!

Welcome back and again sorry for taking so long to get this post out. After my hand healed I was really backed up on some other projects. I'm almost caught up and will post some of those projects on my page in the next couple of days.

When we left off we had all the sanding done and are ready for staining and finishing. I'm making two of these frogs, one that will need staining and one out of exotic wood so everyone can participate in this project. We will go over staining next.

I'm using poplar for my piece that will need staining and this is what I came up with after sanding and shaping it.

Wood Gesture Sculpture Creative arts Art


There is plenty of different stains available from different outlets. The greens, blues, bright reds are a little harder to find and you might have to order them online. I have, in the past, used food dye mixed with water as a stain. Just put a little food dye in water and start testing it on your scraps adding more dye to achieve the color you're looking for. I have also used water based paint in the same way.

Wood Tin can Ingredient Food Aluminum can


I used regular stains for this piece because I had them and they are much easier to use. After drying I checked to make sure that the color was what I wanted.

Vertebrate Wood Artifact Art Ingredient


Wood Organism Gesture Art Tints and shades

Ok, for those of you using exotic wood, it's time to rejoin us. I changed it up on this one and used two types of finish for this one. Usually you would attach your backer board at this point, but because of the two finishes I put those on first. What I was trying to achieve was a regular satin finish on the branch so it would not be real glossy. I used high gloss on the frog because I wanted it to look wet (like a frog). I use a polyurethane finish for both.

Drink Alcoholic beverage Publication Cylinder Tints and shades


Jaw Wood Gesture Plant Art


Wood Artifact Human leg Foot Font


I put three coat of each type and lightly sanded with 320 grit between coats.

Hand Human body Wood Sculpture Gesture


Like I said before the next two steps are usually done before putting your finish on, but we changed it up on this one.

Next we need to glue our piece together, I use CA glue with an accelerant. It is very convenient because you can place you pieces together after putting you glue on and make sure they are in proper placement before spraying the accelerant to dry the glue. I prefer to use the thick CA glue, but you do have a choice of medium, thin, or gel. Be very careful not to drip any of the glue on the face of you piece because you have already done your finish.

Liquid Bottle Fluid Drink Alcoholic beverage


At this point your piece is very fragile so be very careful placing it on your backer board. You can use plywood or anything that is strong and about 1/8 thick. I like to use tempered service board for all of my projects. After placing you piece on you backer board I will trace around it with a pencil.

Hand Gesture Finger Religious item Sculpture


Leg Human body Wood Gesture Artifact


I will then highlight it with a sharpie so I can see it better while cutting.

Wood Flooring Finger Floor Hardwood


Brown Wood Art Flooring Pattern


I will then cut the backer board out making sure to cut inside the traced line 1/8 inch to make sure it does on show from the front.

Wood Road surface Floor Flooring Hood


Here is your finished backer board.

Wood Gesture Tree Flooring Musical instrument


Again, very carefully put your piece back on you backer board to insure that it fits and does not stick out anywhere. After that you can start gluing them together. I use regular wood glue for this.

Plant Wood Bottle Table Font


If I have already put a finish on at this point I will cover it with cellophane to make sure nothing sticks to the finish if there is any area that might be a little tacky.

Amber Gold Wood Metal Water


I will then cover it with a towel to add padding so your clamps will not gouge your wood. I use spring clamp in varying sizes to clamp the backer board to your piece.

Cuisine Fish Seafood Food Wood


Let it dry overnight and then you are ready to put your hanger on. This is a fairly small piece so I only used one hanger on the back instead of picture frame style. Doing this you will need to make sure to get the hanger in the right place so your piece will not hang lopsided. Take you thumb and forefinger and let the piece hang, then move them until the piece is level. Where you finger is where you place your hanger.

Frog True frog Wood Amphibian Toad


Brown Wood Flooring Tints and shades Landscape


At this point we are FINISHED!!! Here are examples of both projects

Exotic wood

Wood Gesture Creative arts True frog Sculpture


Stained wood

Wood Organism Gesture Art Tints and shades


I want to thank all of you for following along and making this project. I hope you get as much enjoyment out of this art form and making these pieces as I do. This is a basic project and the more you do, your imagination will take over and each piece will take on a life of its own. Thanks again and happing cutting.
 

Attachments

#96 ·
We are Almost There!!

Welcome back and again sorry for taking so long to get this post out. After my hand healed I was really backed up on some other projects. I'm almost caught up and will post some of those projects on my page in the next couple of days.

When we left off we had all the sanding done and are ready for staining and finishing. I'm making two of these frogs, one that will need staining and one out of exotic wood so everyone can participate in this project. We will go over staining next.

I'm using poplar for my piece that will need staining and this is what I came up with after sanding and shaping it.

Wood Gesture Sculpture Creative arts Art


There is plenty of different stains available from different outlets. The greens, blues, bright reds are a little harder to find and you might have to order them online. I have, in the past, used food dye mixed with water as a stain. Just put a little food dye in water and start testing it on your scraps adding more dye to achieve the color you're looking for. I have also used water based paint in the same way.

Wood Tin can Ingredient Food Aluminum can


I used regular stains for this piece because I had them and they are much easier to use. After drying I checked to make sure that the color was what I wanted.

Vertebrate Wood Artifact Art Ingredient


Wood Organism Gesture Art Tints and shades

Ok, for those of you using exotic wood, it's time to rejoin us. I changed it up on this one and used two types of finish for this one. Usually you would attach your backer board at this point, but because of the two finishes I put those on first. What I was trying to achieve was a regular satin finish on the branch so it would not be real glossy. I used high gloss on the frog because I wanted it to look wet (like a frog). I use a polyurethane finish for both.

Drink Alcoholic beverage Publication Cylinder Tints and shades


Jaw Wood Gesture Plant Art


Wood Artifact Human leg Foot Font


I put three coat of each type and lightly sanded with 320 grit between coats.

Hand Human body Wood Sculpture Gesture


Like I said before the next two steps are usually done before putting your finish on, but we changed it up on this one.

Next we need to glue our piece together, I use CA glue with an accelerant. It is very convenient because you can place you pieces together after putting you glue on and make sure they are in proper placement before spraying the accelerant to dry the glue. I prefer to use the thick CA glue, but you do have a choice of medium, thin, or gel. Be very careful not to drip any of the glue on the face of you piece because you have already done your finish.

Liquid Bottle Fluid Drink Alcoholic beverage


At this point your piece is very fragile so be very careful placing it on your backer board. You can use plywood or anything that is strong and about 1/8 thick. I like to use tempered service board for all of my projects. After placing you piece on you backer board I will trace around it with a pencil.

Hand Gesture Finger Religious item Sculpture


Leg Human body Wood Gesture Artifact


I will then highlight it with a sharpie so I can see it better while cutting.

Wood Flooring Finger Floor Hardwood


Brown Wood Art Flooring Pattern


I will then cut the backer board out making sure to cut inside the traced line 1/8 inch to make sure it does on show from the front.

Wood Road surface Floor Flooring Hood


Here is your finished backer board.

Wood Gesture Tree Flooring Musical instrument


Again, very carefully put your piece back on you backer board to insure that it fits and does not stick out anywhere. After that you can start gluing them together. I use regular wood glue for this.

Plant Wood Bottle Table Font


If I have already put a finish on at this point I will cover it with cellophane to make sure nothing sticks to the finish if there is any area that might be a little tacky.

Amber Gold Wood Metal Water


I will then cover it with a towel to add padding so your clamps will not gouge your wood. I use spring clamp in varying sizes to clamp the backer board to your piece.

Cuisine Fish Seafood Food Wood


Let it dry overnight and then you are ready to put your hanger on. This is a fairly small piece so I only used one hanger on the back instead of picture frame style. Doing this you will need to make sure to get the hanger in the right place so your piece will not hang lopsided. Take you thumb and forefinger and let the piece hang, then move them until the piece is level. Where you finger is where you place your hanger.

Frog True frog Wood Amphibian Toad


Brown Wood Flooring Tints and shades Landscape


At this point we are FINISHED!!! Here are examples of both projects

Exotic wood

Wood Gesture Creative arts True frog Sculpture


Stained wood

Wood Organism Gesture Art Tints and shades


I want to thank all of you for following along and making this project. I hope you get as much enjoyment out of this art form and making these pieces as I do. This is a basic project and the more you do, your imagination will take over and each piece will take on a life of its own. Thanks again and happing cutting.
This has been an excellent series!

Intarsia is on my future project list and I know I will be referring back to what you have shared with us.

Thanks!!
 

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