Conference Table for Local Church #12: Cross Inlay Done!

Alrighty then! The Cross inlay is done! My theory on flipping the template to cut the inlay piece worked.

Here are the photos of the process….

With the template clamped in place, I cut the female part of the inlay with a Delta Inlay kit. I cut the outside of the area with the 1/8 inch bit in the kit and used a 3/8 inch bit with a 1 inch bushing to finish cutting the waste. I did cut the outside deeper. I did this to make sure the inlay would lay flat in the space.

I did flip the template and cut the inlay using the 1/8 inch bit. I did make the cut in three passes. Making sure when I cut the corners in the middle that I slowed the feed rate and held the bushing tight again the template. It worked and I was able to cut the inlay in one attempt.

Here are the pieces laid out ready to fit. I did have to lightly sand the edges of the inlay pieces, round the corners, and bevel the bottom of the inlay pieces so they would fit easier in the space in the table.

And a close up of the pieces.

I dry fit the pieces to make sure of the fit and then used the holes I drilled in the space and a dowel to gently persuade the inlay out of the space.

I used yellow glue to glue the inlay in the table but I used Gorilla Glue on the miters in the center of the cross. I just applied the Gorilla Glue to the joining edges and NOT to the bottom of the inlay piece because I was afraid that the GG would expand and push the inlay out of the table.

Here is a close up of the center of the cross. Hope you can see the mitered intersection. I think this came out very well.

After using a No. 4 smoothing plane and random-orbital sander, the cross inlay is flush to the table top and the walnut is beautiful. I was very careful to make sure the grainlines in the inlay matched up. Thanks for reading my blog. Now, it’s time sand and sand again before using paste wood filler to fill the open grain, staining and top coating.

Here’s the completed inlay.

-- Makin' Sawdust!!!