So how would you make one of these . . .

[Brian D Anderson]

. . . without the use of a CNC machine?


(http://www.hardwoodfloorandinlays.com/medallions.htm)

I'm having delusions of making one of these for my main stair landing. Just wondering if I should even attempt it. I see a router circle jig coming in handy. I've done a little bit of freehand inlay work.

Should I And how?

-Brian

[Frank Drew]

Brian,

Mike Henderson, a frequent poster here, might log on to give you some advice.

The pattern you show is totally doable by hand, but I would think it would be tricky to hair-pullingly difficult without lots of experience.

[doug faist]

Brian - I, too, had the fantasy of making such an inlay when we had our new floors done in some stuff called Amtico, kind of a high end vinyl. HOWEVER, when they showed us the the inlay in the pictures at $140, installed, it took about 12 seconds to make the calculations and a decision. We still have people asking if I did the inlay. Being the honest, upstanding woodworker that I am, I say "Of course I did."

It might be worthwhile looking into a ready made. These types of inlays are extremely exacting and terribly time consuming.

Have fun with your project.

Doug

[harry strasil]

patterns and a lot of sanding to fit.

This is some crude handwork.

[Brian D Anderson]

Brian - I, too, had the fantasy of making such an inlay when we had our new floors done in some stuff called Amtico, kind of a high end vinyl. HOWEVER, when they showed us the the inlay in the pictures at $140, installed, it took about 12 seconds to make the calculations and a decision. We still have people asking if I did the inlay. Being the honest, upstanding woodworker that I am, I say "Of course I did."

It might be worthwhile looking into a ready made. These types of inlays are extremely exacting and terribly time consuming.

Have fun with your project.

Doug

Now that's what I'm talking about. The one I pictured is close to a grand. I would definitely buy it if it was $140 . . . though I doubt I would find one in wood for that price. Anybody have any other sources for these things?

-Brian

[Mike Henderson]

I have a couple of tutorials on how to do that in veneer. To do it in thicker wood would be more work but possible. In any case, I'd limit the thickness of the wood and glue it to some substrate to get it to flooring thickness. Veneer would be too thin - you'd sand through it - but you don't need 3/4" thick stuff either.

The only advantage of doing it yourself is to do some unique design. If you're going to do a standard design, buy it. The people who make this stuff commercially can cut everything very accurately so it'll go together quickly. When you're doing it, it's like Harry S. said - you'll have to sand things to get them to fit.

Mike

[Mike Henderson]

Thinking about it a bit more, this is what I'd probably do if I was installing it in my house (as flooring).

I'd lay in that design in veneer and glue it to a substrate so that it's a bit thinner than the wood flooring. If you're using prefinished wood flooring, I'd go for exactly the same thickness.

I'd put the design element in place and lay the wood floor around it. Then, using one of those big suction cups, I'd pull the design element out and sand the flooring and put the first coat of finish on the floor. Next, I'd lay the design in and check the edges to see that they match in thickness to the wood flooring. If not, I'd sand the back or use shims to get it adjusted. Then I'd glue the design element in and put the final coat of finish on.

If you're using prefinished flooring, I'd essentially do the same thing, except I'd finish the design element before putting it back in and adjusting the thickness.

While the veneer is thin, wear on flooring is confined to the finish unless you really let it go. You could not refinish the floor at some later date, however.

Mike

[Kyle Iwamoto]

How would I do it?

It would take an extremely LONG time and WAY more than 140 bucks worth of my time.

There are some things that are just way cheaper to pay someone else to do. That would be one of them.

But I could do it...... Perhaps get done before I die from old age...LOL That is very nice work. CNC router would help.

[Russell Tribby]

www.majesticmedallions.com

He's a member over at FOG (Festool Owners Group) and at Woodweb. He does beautiful work. If you're interested in doing this yourself you may be able to pick his brain. Good luck.

[Bill Keehn]

Brian, you should just go ahead and give parquetry a try. I think you can do this. I'd probably follow Mike's suggested method for installation. I think I'd cut the veneer myself and thickness it down to about 3/32" thick.

The pattern may be easier than you think. If you look at how many identical parts there are, it makes me think about gluing up thicker stock into that shape prior to cutting veneer pieces. It should be easy to cut identical parts that way. Don't bother cutting any curves. Just wait until the star is done and cut out a circle using the center of the star as your circle center.

You can allow yourself to be a little creative with the design. As long as the joints are tight and the lines of symmetry are straight, and you stick to your color pattern, it'll look good. Who could say it didn't turn out right? Besides, even if its not perfect, people will be more impressed by the one you made by hand than the one you bought. Harry calls his handwork crude but he's still happy to show it off. I'll bet you will be too.

The nice thing about using veneer you made is that if it doesn't turn out like you wanted and you throw it away, you haven't wasted much of anything except your time. And if you learn something from it, even that wasn't wasted.

[Brian D Anderson]

www.majesticmedallions.com

He's a member over at FOG (Festool Owners Group) and at Woodweb. He does beautiful work. If you're interested in doing this yourself you may be able to pick his brain. Good luck.

I think I'm just crazy enough to do this. Thanks for the link . . . he has lots of good info on his website including in progress pictures.

I might just do it.

I did a stair overhaul on my basement stairs not too long ago.



I now stare (stair? ) at my 1st floor stairs and think I should do something similar . . . but "fancier".

-Brian

[Bill Keehn]

Hey that looks great.