Inlaying Materials

[Jarrod McGehee]

Ok so since a lot of us turners sometimes like to inlay other materials into our work...

I'm making an elm burl coffee table that is Nakashima style, It has a few cracks on the top, nothing major and I thought it would look nice with something inlaid in there. I can't afford turquoise and I haven't used Inlace before but my mom said she saw some colored sand in the craft section at WalMart. I was wondering if maybe that would work and apply it with CA glue??

So if you guys could give me your 2 pennies worth and help me figure this out so I can get it done and put some nice pics up here, I'd appreciate it. Thanks a lot. -Jarrod

[David Walser]

Jarrod,

Colored sand should work as an inlay material. Just about anything that'll fit in the crack would work. (I've even used glitter. I don't recommend it. It filled the crack. I just didn't like the look.) The only question I'd have about the sand is whether the colorant is compatible with the CA glue. I'd try it on a scrap and see.

Good luck!

[Jarrod McGehee]

Thanks a lot for the help David. Ya my mom said that the sand is really fine so it should work. I'll get a scrap piece with a knot in it and try it out. and you say that because the dye on the sand and the glue may not bond together well? I'll give it a try though.

[Scott Conners]

If it's silica sand based, it's very hard - make sure you glue it in fairly level, because sanding it down may be a lot harder than other stones. I intend to use these guy's stone on a bunch of forms with cracks I just finished, $8.00 for 4oz of turquoise sand is pretty darn cheap.
http://stores.ebay.com/GILMER-ROCK-S...QQftidZ2QQtZkm

[David Walser]

... you say that because the dye on the sand and the glue may not bond together well?...

No, I should have been more clear. My concern is that the CA glue might "wash away" the colorant, leaving behind natural colored sand. Worse, if the CA glue dissolved the colorant, it might carry it into the surrounding wood, leaving a stain that you might not be able to remove. I don't think that will happen, but I've seen colored sand that was nothing more than white sand mixed with powdered chalk. Water would wash the chalk away leaving behind the white sand -- not the look you're going for!

I agree with Scott. You can save yourself a lot of sanding effort by leaving your inlay slightly below the surface and leveling things off with another application (or two) of CA glue once the inlay has dried.

Good luck!

[Peter Luch]

This place is good and quick. Not bad on the pricing either.

http://www.gilmerrockshop.com/servlet/StoreFront

[Jeff Nicol]

Jarrod, I turn a lot of old bowling balls into miniatures and have pieces left over that have great color in them. I have taken the curls and shavings produced from woking it and used it for filler. I have used thick CA and epoxy and both work for the process. If you had and old blender you were not going to use for food you can put some small piece in there and grind them up into smaller hunks closer to small stones/grit and use that to. It makes a heck of a racket but make sure not to put to big a piece in or it bounces around a lot. Crack them up with a hammer while wrapped in a towl to keep them from flying all over before the blender. Lots of work but I like to recyle!!

Jeff

[Prashun Patel]

If yr making it Nakashima-esque then why don't you use a butterfly inlay with a contrasting wood? It'll look way more organic than colored sand which is really in the spirit of Nakashima. Also, it'll (in theory) stabilize any cracks or splits. That's just an opinion. Not meant to incite debate. I'm sure yr table will look beautiful whatever u do.

[Larry Fox]

If yr making it Nakashima-esque then why don't you use a butterfly inlay with a contrasting wood? It'll look way more organic than colored sand which is really in the spirit of Nakashima. Also, it'll (in theory) stabilize any cracks or splits. That's just an opinion. Not meant to incite debate. I'm sure yr table will look beautiful whatever u do.

Ditto here. I think wood is the ticket here. That said, I don't care much for inlays done with sand / turquoise but that is just my personal opinion and I mention it to expose the bias in my answer. The one exception to this is mother of perl on guitars.

[Dewey Torres]

A pic of the top would help greatly.

[Jarrod McGehee]

If yr making it Nakashima-esque then why don't you use a butterfly inlay with a contrasting wood? It'll look way more organic than colored sand which is really in the spirit of Nakashima. Also, it'll (in theory) stabilize any cracks or splits. That's just an opinion. Not meant to incite debate. I'm sure yr table will look beautiful whatever u do.

The cracks are quite tiny and a butterfly would be wayyyy overkill. I thought about something like that but it's just too small to do much else than a turquoise (or something to the like). And I need a little help on making a butterfly inlay still. I'll try it hopefully soon.

[Prashun Patel]

Good luck
By the way, if you decide to try yr hand @ butterfly inlays again in the future, I highly recommend using an inlay 'kit' and yr router. It really med it painless for a non-expert like myself - even on the 1st try.

[Jarrod McGehee]

Thanks Shawn. I'll end up having to do it on the next flitch that I have (Claro Walnut that I got a GOOD deal on ) so I'll take your advise on the kit. There will be pictures of that one too when it is done.

[Dewey Torres]

Thanks Shawn. I'll end up having to do it on the next flitch that I have (Claro Walnut that I got a GOOD deal on ) so I'll take your advise on the kit. There will be pictures of that one too when it is done.

Do you have an inlay kit already with the bushing, bit and collar?

[Jarrod McGehee]

No Dewey I don't. You're the inlay master, any tips?