My first plan was to get the inlay glued in, coat the inlay with shellac (as Norm did on his Nest of Tables), and hope for the best. However, I followed some other decisions, and I’m not sure I am happy. The new plan was to use blue tape in the groove to protect glue surfaces, but not put the inlay in until after the table top had the full stain recipe applied.
What I hadn’t expected was the difficulty of getting the gel stain even near the tape, and in attempting to do so meant accidentally pulling some tape out while wiping and still getting some stain in the groove, and in other places almost gluing in the tape as the stain dried. My lack of experience here I’m sure contributed to the difficulties. But at this point, I’m not sure how to proceed.
I only did one of the two table tops. If I screwed something up, I wanted to learn from the mistakes and correct it going forward. As you can see in the pics, there is some uneven cover. I’ll be looking to see if it’s grain or pulling too much off. I saw it during the wipe-down, but couldn’t get it to recover correctly.
Can I fix that with a “spot” coat of GC?
I have one more coat (if all goes right) before top-coats. I’m using GF Georgian Cherry and Java gel stains. First coat is GC. I want this to be a solid base coat. Second coat will be a 50/50 GC and Java mix.
Options:- Retape the groove but cut tape low to the surface to prevent pulling it out when wiping off the stain
- Glue the inlay – at this point, the sealer 1 lb. shellac and 1st coat of stain will protect the wood, and any squeeze-out should pop right off.
- After gluing in, cover with shellac. I have purchased micro brushes to help make sure I get the whole inlay but not the table top.
- Problem here – flushing to surface (which was part of the original discussion). Must not damage the surface/stain, and can it be repaired if so?
Other? Still thinking this over . . .
-- There are many tempting parking places on the road to success
2 comments so far
rsladdwoodworks
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311 posts in 1336 days
#1 posted 830 days ago
can you put some tip of feller and after you stain pull it out and then put the inlay in
-- Robert Laddusaw and no I am not smarter then a fifth grader ( and no I canot spell so if it is a problem don't read it ))
Rick
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142 posts in 1676 days
#2 posted 830 days ago
Hey, Robert – thanks for the suggestion.
My only question is what type of filler? The one problem I’m not sure I know how to overcome is when the stain is up against the filler, how do I wipe off the stain up close without leaving some kind of heavy build up there, or apply too much pressure against it and take off too much and end up with it light? As in the pics where I showed part of the edge and along the inlay groove (after I had taken out the tape) where it’s lighter than the rest of the table.
I was hoping the tape would serve that purpose, but – at least with my level of expertise – I couldn’t get it even without also getting it in the grooves because I’d press too hard against the tape. I’m definitely open to suggestion.
-- There are many tempting parking places on the road to success
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