furniture focus
Tom Rogers suggests ways to enhance panel doors using inlays
4 by Tom Rogers
Decorative inlaid bandings , strings or lines are traditionally used to enhance the appearance of veneered furniture , both as a form of decoration in their own right or as a means to break up flat plain surfaces such as table tops and door panels . For the latter they are commonly used to produce an edge margin or to define or disguise the joint line when changing the grain direction , pattern or type of panel veneer ( i . e . cross grain edge veneers ).
Materials
Bandings and strings can be cut from many different materials , although plain or composite timber strip is most often used . Composite bandings are made up by sandwiching slips of contrasting or coloured timbers between surface veneers . These are then crosscut to produce a chevron , rope , arrowhead , chequered or other face patterns . Strings or lines are simply cut as thin strips of timber or other material , or as composite strings cut from three thicknesses of veneer ( i . e . light outer veneers with a contrasting dark inner veneer ). Bandings and strings are available from leading veneer and woodworking suppliers , while thin
section plastic and metal strip ( brass , copper and aluminium ) can often be obtained from modelmaking material suppliers . Inlaying involves cutting a shallow recess , the exact width of the string or banding , into the surface of the wood or surface veneers allowing it to lie flush . All bandings are generally of similar thickness to surface veneers , about 0.7mm - 0.9mm while strings may be a little thicker . However , both should be set fractionally proud of the surrounding surface to allow for trimming flush after the glue has dried .
Cutting the Recess
Traditionally this recess would have been cut by hand using a scratch stock or plough plane . However , the router , fitted with a suitable diameter cutter is now more frequently used for this purpose . There are a number of cutters suitable for cutting inlay recesses in the Trend range . Both single and two flute cutters can be used for this purpose , but it is imperative that they are kept finely honed to ensure that the edge of the recess is cut sharp and clean .
12
Inlay Cutters
Single flute 2 / 01 2 / 02 2 / 10 2 / 12 Two flute 3 / 10 3 / 11 3 / 03 Your selection will depend on the width of the banding or string , these can vary from 1.5mm to 12mm or even wider .