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9K views 13 replies 6 participants last post by  daddymunster 
#1 ·
1

Has there ever been a time when you saw a wood banding design inlaid into a table, jewelry box, or picture frame and you asked yourself the question "How did they create the banding?" I did too. Fortunately, about two years ago I came across a video on Woodtreks and it was there that I witnessed a craftsman form Orion Woodworks that explained the process of this particular banding design. The following is my interpretation.



Pictured above is the look that I'm after. Notice how the color designs of the bandings are different from one another and yet their basic pattern is alike. In my tutorial I'll show you how to get two bandings for the price of one.
The choice of woods for the bandings are maple, walnut, and cherry. Since I have dadoed a 7/16" wide plough into the face of the picture frames I'll make the bandings just a bit wider than that. Later they will be trimmed by sanding and fit into place.



For ripping I use a Rockler thin rip jig. Set the jig bearing in front of the left side of the blade to your desired thickness and then slide the fence over to the right side of the board. (The board is planed to thickness and has parallel edges.) In the picture above notice that a zero clearance insert is being used along with a splitter while ripping on the tablesaw. This is very important to avoid kickback.



Here you can see the interior strips being glued together. Notice how walnut and maple contrast one another.



One edge of the banding interior has been hand planed to form a straight edge. So now we can take it over to rip the other edge on the bandsaw.



We will rip the rough edge off so we will have two parallel edges for the interior of the banding. Then we are set to create the segments that will form the interior banding design.



The segments are cut on the tablesaw with the aid of a sled that provides zero clearance. The fence on the left is set to 45 degrees to the sawblade. A preliminary cut has been made and now the right side of the blade and the short point of the banding's angle are in alignment. Notice how the stopblock on the right is set to the long point of the banding. This will give consistent segment lengths for all of our cuts.

Once a segment is cut just simply flip the banding edge for edge and continue this practice after each segment cut. Note: 1.) A sharp blade is imperative. 2.) Stay on the safe side and wear a faceshield.



Now the segments are cut and it's important to organize them because there are two different color designs. If you look closely you'll see a walnut stripe in each segment center, but you'll also notice that some segments have a cherry base and some have a maple base.
When the two segment types have been separated from one another and organized into two piles we can then gather the outer banding rippings. The outer rippings will serve to sandwich the segments together to form our banding.

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#5 ·
Joe…You're right! It is a clever process. Now, the fun will begin.

Scrappy…Think you'll enjoy it. You can do a lot w/ a simple banding.

Tim…You're welcome! He makes it looks very easy like you say. Good stuff.
 
#8 ·
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Once the banding segments are organized we can now focus on creating the interior design. We'll need a few outer rippings that will sandwich the segments together and keep them in alignment. You'll notice in the picture that the outer hardwoods are walnut and maple glued together. In this case the walnut will be on the inside with the maple on the outside. The reason for this is to create contrasting colors within the banding and also with the mahogany picture frames that will be inlaid.



Here you can see the completed bandings as they appear after gluing. 1.) Notice how the triangular segments nestle and align with one another. 2.) Also, take a close look at how the maple, walnut, and cherry contrast one another within the pattern's design. 3.) The length of the banding is a greater than the longer side of the picture frame to be inlaid. This means a full banding length can be inlaid into the frame which eliminates smaller banding pieces being fit and glued. 4.) Two for the price of one…The two bandings pictured are of similar design, however their interior designs have opposite color combinations. (Remember that we organized the segments into two separate piles in Part 1.)



The block plane has jointed one side of the banding being held in the bench vise and now the inlay designs are clearly revealed.



The two bandings pictured are a result of our work in this tutorial. Each inlay banding shown above will be more than enough for a picture frame.



The first banding pattern has been ripped on the bandsaw and we have (6) bandings of 1/8" thickness. The second banding pattern will produce the same.



A simple mitre jig clamped to the workbench and a fine toothed dovetail saw are all that are needed to cut mitres for our woodworking project. You will notice in the companion video, How to install Wood Inlay that a sanding block is used to trim the bandings for proper fit. The sanding block is simply a fine grit sanding belt from a belt sander tightly wrapped around a block of wood.



Now it's just a matter of trimming and fitting the inlay into the project. Note: When sanding the finished project remember that the banding is fairly thin and that the wood veneer can quickly disappear.



Once you acquire the skill of creating bandings for wood inlay you'll more than likely develop a desire to create more banding designs. You'll likely find yourself making "wood jewelry" in your woodworking shop. Moreover, if you are a woodworker like me you'll soon have a family of inlaid frames on your walls as well. Good luck with your inlay and fine woodworking projects and be sure to let me know if you have any questions. I hope you enjoyed this inlay how to and if you have any questions please let me know. Thanks for viewing!
 
#9 ·
Very GOOD!

Limited only by one's imagination…

Seeing the band saw setup to cut thin strips reminded me of a cool jig to allow the blade guide to be lowered closer to the wood being cut… Take an "L" strip, clamp it to your fence, move the fence (and clamped "L" strip) for 1/8" strip, and make your cuts using the Right part of the "L" as the new fence… The bearing, etc. will be out of the way of the Vertical part of the "L" as a result of having the Lower Right section of the "L" being wide enough to the space of the Bearings, etc. Works slicker than you know what!
 
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