# metal inlay over stained or painted ?



## IndyJones (Dec 17, 2013)

hi all , im sorry if this is in the wrong forum to start

Soo im a complete amateur but having a go a little woodwork projects , done a coffe table and such

nothing detailed but would like to do some inlay on my next 2 projects over christmas… which are a jewlery box for the missus and a poker table / table top ( not sure yet )

the jewlery box will just be a sanded after inlay and maybe a varnish or polyurethane . but the problem and reason for the post comes with the poker table which i want to be black .. a black stain i think .. nice and glossy with a good polish which will compliment the brass or silver inlay i think . it would be nice to just have some dark wood which i can just sand into when sanding down the excess powder of the inlay and not worry about. but on my budget i think i will have to dye or paint .. but how can i get the inlay flush with the wood without taking iff the dye or paint

i apologise if the answer is ovbious ..

Iv thought about going around the inlay with a small brush , but this seems to much hard work and time consuming

ive thought about leaving the inlay below the surface and going over with a polyurethane or sumthing else clear until flush .. like a depression inlay ? but not sure how that will look

thought about sanding all flush then coating the inlay in wood glue or sumthing to keep the dye off ? ( im not even sure if the dye or paint will effect the metal powder ?? maybe i can just wipe off )

maybe tracing paper around the inlay and sand until i hit it ?

im just rambling now and clutching at straws .

please help .

thanks in advance


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## alohafromberkeley (Oct 26, 2011)

Brian Boggs has a method for ebonizing that he says goes into the wood fibers that works better than a topcoat/dye. He wrote a detailed article for Popular Woodworking Magazine :
www.popularwoodworking.com/techniques/ebonizing_wood
Woods high in tannin would be the first choice ,i.e. walnut and oak. You'd have to ebonize the wood then do the inlay. Shellac could be painted on parts to help keep the sanding dust off.


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## IndyJones (Dec 17, 2013)

thanks , ive read it and it does seem like a possible solution , if ..when i am sanding down my excess metal and and just start to just start to get flush and bigin sanding the surface of the stained wood that the stain goes deep and is not just on the surface.. but i would imagine i would have to re stain with the tea bark powder to get it to look like the rest.

Any other ideas .. ?


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## IndyJones (Dec 17, 2013)

ive read more on the inter web and decided india ink is the way im gonna go .. hopefully when i sand down the ink will have stained the wood deep.

unless better ideas pop up ??


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## natenaaron (Jun 24, 2013)

I have worked a lot with wood and metal together. Here is my motto, painter's tape is your buddy. Do all of your inlay and sanding prior to staining. Tape off the metal, stain and remove the tape. Kind of a tedious job if you have a lot of inlay but it has worked for me.


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## IndyJones (Dec 17, 2013)

my inlay is going to be lots of text in a nice font/style small too .. so tape would be very very hard work

thank you for input

could i not just inlay , sand flush the stain all including the metal inlay and then wipe the india ink off of the metal or will the ink stain the metal too ??

must be a solution

how does depression inlay look compared to flush ? any good ?


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## IndyJones (Dec 17, 2013)

how much area will 2 fluid oz of inidia ink cover please ?


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## natenaaron (Jun 24, 2013)

The issue will be the tone of the stain. It will be darker on the surface than it will be below the surface. If you are not wanting to mask then you will need to make sure you sand the entire surface evenly to make sure the tone of the stain is the same over the entire surface.


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

The metal inlay might be a lot trickier than you think. For someone new to woodworking .


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## Dal300 (Aug 4, 2011)

Inlay, sand, stain, finish,


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## IndyJones (Dec 17, 2013)

inlay sand stain finsih ?

so now my inlay is covered in india ink ?


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## alohafromberkeley (Oct 26, 2011)

Have you thought of using metallic powder in epoxy? Jim is right - the inlay is gonna be trickier (to set to right depth).


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## LakeLover (Feb 2, 2013)

Why don't you try a sample?


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## IndyJones (Dec 17, 2013)

Yes powdered metal or embossing powders and epoxy or super glue but will still have to sand and still have same problem unless i leave it shy of top but i dont think it will look right just shoved down instean of sanded

stilll open to ideas ?

all the equipment and materials are on there way , so will try sample soon . but realistically i dont think any idea at the moment is "the one "


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