# Sanding Marquetry and Stain



## jonsprague0000 (Jan 18, 2014)

I'm doing a paterae of thistle and leaves in marquetry for a federal style card table I'm building. The background is holly that I've dyed green. After putting the marquetry together I needed to sand the piece and the sanding removed a lot of the green stain. I applied shellac to the inner white holly and I reapplied the outer green stain with a small paint brush but now it looks blotchy and is not as crisp. Does anyone have any suggestions how to handle this in the future? Do you think it will even out once a shellac finish with wax is applied?









Attached is an image of the piece.


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## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

I've done a lot of marquetry using aniline dyes to provide colours. Most of what I learned is in a blog I did over a period of time. I called it watercolor dye technique. Maybe there's something in it for you. I do understand the problem you are having.
Probably the best answer is to use a commercially available dyed veneer in the first place but if you want to do your own dying maybe the blog will help you.


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## jonsprague0000 (Jan 18, 2014)

Thanks shipwright. The blog is very interesting. It sounds like you got the best results from spraying an oil based poly and then using dye. Is this correct? I have transtint dye. What would you recommend mixing it with if I'm going over oil poly?


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## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

I haven't used transtint. I used color FX which is water/alcohol based. If transtint is the same you could expect the same results. I wouldn't recommend trying to dye over any sealing coat. What I was doing there was trying to add fine detail after finish sanding was complete and finishing had begun. It won't penetrate so it wouldn't be a good answer for what you are doing.
If I were making the piece you are, I would get some commercially stained veneer. Then you have one less problem to deal with. 
If you really want to do it with dye, 
assemble the marquetry, 
sand it flat, 
moisten it to raise the grain, 
after it dries sand it flat again, 
separate the pieces and dye the background, 
Apply a little spray poly to the good sides,
reassemble and apply mastic from the back, 
then apply it to the substrate
If you are using a hide glue you should be able to get any stray mastic off the front with just water but if it isn't sealed well enough you could still run the dye.
You should do some experimenting yourself. It can be done but commercially dyed veneer would be a lot easier.

Good luck


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## jonsprague0000 (Jan 18, 2014)

Thanks for all the help. The dye never worked out so I stack cut eagles out of a stack of holly and satinwood. Much easier with solid woods and no dye. Here is a picture of what I ended up with. Based on the picture, do you have any suggestions on how I can improve my marquetry in the future?


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## Finn (May 26, 2010)

... Based on the picture, do you have any suggestions on how I can improve my marquetry in the future?

- jonsprague0000
[/QUOTE]
Have you considered "Double bevel inlay" with a scroll saw? I do hundreds of inlays a year that way, using just my scroll saw but no stains.


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## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

If you are looking for perfect fit, Jim is right - a double bevel style cut will furnish that. The downside is you only get to cut one at a time and the conical nature of the cut makes really sharp corners difficult if not impossible.
To me the best way to improve these is more accurate cutting. As the are small and quite intricate this is not easy with a scroll saw because when stack cutting (Boulle style) you have no "waste side" of the line. I know there are people on this site who are that good with a scroll saw but I'm not one of them. If you are serious about doing intricate marquetry, have a look at building a chevalet. You will be amazed at the improvement in your cutting.

All you ever wanted to know about the chevalet can be found here.

The short answer, however, to your question is that it doesn't need much improvement at all. It looks pretty good now.


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## jonsprague0000 (Jan 18, 2014)

One day I would like to get a scroll saw. These were cut using a fret saw. Thanks for all the tips and compliments. I look forward to posting a picture of the finished table.


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