# Basic wood inlay



## brownmd (Jan 14, 2010)

So I'm building a bed, and I was thinking about adding a little decoration. Specifically, I was thinking about adding a long inlay strip to the side rails, and maybe a few other places as well, but I have a few questions. First, is the process as simple as it seems to me? Cut a groove, add some glue, put a piece in, then plane it flush? Second, I'm planning on staining the bed (made of hemlock) with a fairly dark stain like mahogany. I'm thinking the inlay would look nice if left lighter… so that leaves me with another question. Do you stain them separately then put together, then top coat? Put it together, tape it, then stain?

Anyway, whenever I look for tutorials, etc, all I seem to find is how to do stuff that's a lot more complex than I'm looking to do. Anyone with a bit of advice, or know of any good resources I can turn to?

Thanks!


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## alanealane (Oct 1, 2007)

It's just about as simple as it seems!! Do just as you said, and cut a groove, glue in the inlay, and sand/plane flush. As far as staining, I'd suggest getting the inlay piece as close as possible to a thickness matching the groove BEFORE gluing it in. This way, you can pre-apply a coat of shellac (like Zinsser Seal-Coat) to the inlay strip. Then glue it in, sand it flush, and put another coat of shellac on the inlay. To isolate the inlay from the main wood (hemlock), put a good quality masking tape up to the edge of the inlay before adding the second coat of shellac. Hopefully the first coat of shellac soaked into the inlay far enough that sanding/planing didn't remove most of it. Then when you add the second coat of shellac, let it dry, and apply the stain to the entire piece, the inlay should take very little, if any, of the stain. Maybe try a gel-stain, which can be immediately removed from the inlay with a Q-tip while it's still wet. Or you could put masking tape directly over the inlay before staining the piece, but I think that with the shellac applied, you won't need to do this.

I hope it works out for you!!

I also hope other LJs give you some more suggestions. There are a lot of really experienced people here when it comes to inlay and staining.

Have fun!


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## brownmd (Jan 14, 2010)

Thanks… glad to hear it's not too complicated!


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## sbryan55 (Dec 8, 2007)

Here are some videos that Keith Cruickshank has produced on the subject of inlays, if you are interested.


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## Ger21 (Oct 29, 2009)

If you plan on staining the wood, I'd think twice about the inlay. At least do a sample first, to see how difficult it will be to keep the stain off the inlay.


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## mpmitche (Apr 2, 2010)

That was a great video Scott, thanks for sharing.


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## MasterSergeant (Jan 15, 2011)

Yes, that was a very informative video! Thanks for passing on the link!


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## Gregn (Mar 26, 2010)

Bob Simmons has a site where he talks about inlay work.
http://theapprenticeandthejourneyman.com/
Here's his LJ profile.
http://lumberjocks.com/daddymunster


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