# My Inlay set up



## RussellAP (Feb 21, 2012)

I'm by no means a pro and this is not an attempt to teach anything. I learned by trial and error and some YouTube videos myself. Experience is your best teacher.

I get my inlay from a variety of places and a quick Google search will put you in touch with lots of them. Price shop for quantity, one oz is a lot actually.

Anyway, here are some of my inlay materials. 
We have glitter which I sometimes use to mix with similar colored stones for that little eye catching glint. 









The second picture has more inlay stone and powder. The brass powder fills and sands like wood and you can't really get it to shine, but it does provide an interesting contrast seen up close. You just won't really notice it much. The spoons have been worked into tools for depositing inlay material into the spot needed. 









These are my adhesives and some different color sand. I use sand as a liner to many of my inlays, when sanded down it can give the inlay some 'eye liner' and we all know what that did for Johnny Depp. 









This whole set up including canisters costs me just over 150$ and will be cheap to maintain. I've already done about 6 or 7 inlay projects and still have much left over. I like to keep a paper under the work to gather the loose stone and put it back in the can. When sanding a flat board inlay, I like to keep the dust for fill in of small cracks.


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## Kreegan (Jul 10, 2012)

Great setup, Russ. I've been wanting to try some inlay. I have a banksia pod I want to turn into a vase, and was thinking of inlaying the seed holes with something. How do you actually put the inlay in? I see you have a variety of CA glues. How do you use them and finish over them?


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## RussellAP (Feb 21, 2012)

For a large gap like a crotch, I'll put down a layer of thin CA and fill the hole with black sand leaving room for my stones on top. Then flood with Thin CA till it stands like a pool. 
For smaller inlays, I just use the handle of the spoon to scoop up enough to do about an inch at a time and glue it along the way. I don't see much need for the thicker epoxies.


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## helluvawreck (Jul 21, 2010)

It looks like a nice setup. I'm wanting to try some maple string inlay on wallnut coming up but that will be my only experience so far with any inlay work. Until then I've not done any.

helluvawreck aka Charles
http://woodworkingexpo.wordpress.com


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## Gene01 (Jan 5, 2009)

Hey Russell,
Nice set up. 
How is that "eye liner" done? 
I've been using LocTite CA lately. I see you use the Super T. The other ones I've not seen. Did you find them locally or get them online?
Crushed Iron Pyrite used sparingly mixed among other crushed stones is interesting. So is the brass filings that I get from the key machine at the hardware store. Those seem to be regular in size and more like short lengths of tiny thread. As an aside, crushed Iron Pyrite and a salt shaker can make some interesting effects in a finish. I just shake a little on to the first coat of finish (poly or varnish) then add a few coats over it. Looks like gold flecks.
Living our here, lots of raw stones are fairly easily obtained. So, I have been crushing my own. But, purchased crushed stone is a lot simpler and cleaner. I've bought some locally and some from Inlace.
Most of my inlay is simply to fill voids in mesquite and other hardwoods that may be stress cracked or full of worm/beetle holes.


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