Inlace Liquid Inlay matrial

[Art Mann]

I have been making some keepsake boxes with carved lids using the vcarve inlay technique described on the Vectric website. The process works really well and I recommend it to anyone who wants to do inlays with really fine detail. Right now, I am trying to branch out and create inlays with a metallic or pearl look. I have ordered a kit from Inlace Liquid Inlays. Here is the website. It has very few useful application instructions.

http://www.inlaceonline.com/

I am hoping that someone else has used this stuff and can maybe offer some tips for using it. I would really appreciate it if someone has some pictures of how they used it.

[Larry Tobias]

Not much info on it out there yet.

http://woodworker.com/pdf/InLaceInstructions.pdf

[Frank barry]

Hi I think its on you tube please let us know how it works for you cheers Frank

[Art Mann]

Yes, there are a couple of Youtube videos I found on Inlace but they are both a lot of someone just talking. Either one could be edited down to a three minute video with no loss of real content.

[Frank barry]

Art that is true it is limited but it dose look an interesting product if it works cheers Frank

[Tony Joyce]

I have not used the Inlace product, but I have filled with "Castin' Craft Clear Epoxy" with "Pearl Ex" power.
I did not get the results I wanted, but never got around to doing more samples. You will have to seal the wood before filling to keep it out of the grain.
This was supposed to be a mother of pearl powder. For scale the box is about 3-1/2" X 4-1/2".





Tony

[Art Mann]

Wow, thanks so much Tony. Perhaps the photo is better looking than the actual piece but the overall effect is just what I'm looking for. Nice design too. The Inlace product isn't an epoxy. It is based on polyester resin/hardener instead. My first quick experiment leads me to believe the material won't bleed out into the surrounding wood like epoxy or stain. If that turns out to be a problem, I thought of 2 possible solutions. I could cut the image with maybe .020" or so offset depth to allow for a little more drum sanding. Alternatively, I have successfully used spray shellac as a mask with certain paints.

[Tony Joyce]

Art,
There is some bleed of the white in the picture of the box. I only used two coats of lacquer to seal the grain(Bubinga). I've had good luck using lacquer(I spray a lot) as a mask to keep fillers from bleeding. Usually it takes two or three coats to work well.
The plate is not filled level like the box. In fact it is a grain filler. This seems to be faster and easier for pieces that don't need to be level filled.

I was not satisfied with cutting deeper and sanding back, you loose too much detail. IMHO




Tony

Edit: my album has some other examples of filled V-carve. http://www.sawmillcreek.org/album.php?albumid=513

[Bill Munroe]

You might want to try polymer clay as well. I tried the Inlace and wasn't thrilled with it. You can get polymer clay at Hobby Lobby or Michael's. It comes in a variety of colors, but I like the white the best.

[Frank barry]

Wow that's super work it must take a lot of time but it is sure is worth it

cheers Frank

[Art Swander]

As far as using inlace, there are a few trips that I can offer you, as I use inlace quite a bit and have had really good luck with it. 1st of all, make sure that the area that you are going to inlay is very clean. Any dust or sawdust will cause the inlace not to stick properly. When mixing your resin, be sure to get the mix as close to the directions as possible. I use a syringe to add the hardener to the epoxy and it seems to work very well. You also do not want to mix up more than you can use reasonable in 15 minutes. Much past that time frame, then the mix starts to both harden and settle giving uneven results. The material will self level if you get the mixture correct, so use some scrap material and see where the mix between epoxy and hardener gets the best leveling. You will have good results if you have a little patients and test it out with slightly different epoxy = hardener mixtures until you find out what will work best for you. I do a number of inlays for custom made pens, and even some on things like decorative baseball bats, gavels and stuff. Just do not get in a hurry. Once you apply it, don't put it back into the lathe before the material is completely dry. I let it sit for a minimum of 24 hours, personal preference, before I even think of turning it. If it is a wider piece of inlay, more than about 1/3 inch, I will give it about 48 hours before I do anything with it. Yes, it is supposed to dry much faster than that, but would much rather be safe than sorry!

Best of luck with it!

[Bruce Page]

Tony, your carvings are beautiful. Can you describe your grain filler technique and provide some product suggestions? I have been using spray paint to color my v-carvings after applying 2-3 coats of shellac. It works OK on flat pieces where I can scrape/sand off excess paint. I would like to find a better method for non-flat carvings.

[Tony Joyce]

Tony, your carvings are beautiful. Can you describe your grain filler technique and provide some product suggestions? I have been using spray paint to color my v-carvings after applying 2-3 coats of shellac. It works OK on flat pieces where I can scrape/sand off excess paint. I would like to find a better method for non-flat carvings.

Bruce,

This is what works for me and seems to go quickly. After I have my V-carve done I sand to a finish grit(I use 150) I apply two to three coats(sanding between coats) of high solids lacquer(I use SW PreCat). After the lacquer dries I apply "Behlen Pore-O-Pac™ Grain Filler" (I use Med. Brn. Wal.) with a brush being sure to load all the cracks and crevices. I let it start to haze over and wipe the heaviest excess off(I use a plastic squeege on flat areas). As it hardeners I remove more of the excess. After it sets over night I wipe the haze off the high areas with a rag until the rag is clean after wiping. If some areas still have a haze I lightly dampen a rag with MS and lightly wipe them off. I let it set for a while(couple hours) and then top coat with one or two coats of lacquer. Sounds involved, but it goes quickly(at least to me) and is pretty easy.

I notice shellac.net has Behlen's lacquer products in spray cans. Including a high solids lacquer.

Hope this is of some use and if you have any other questions let me know.

Tony Joyce

[Bruce Page]

Thank you Tony, I'll gather the ingredients and give that a try.