Replies

1. 
   Handrubbed | Jul 01, 2005 04:04am | #1

   I'll ditto that request.  I recently saw an ad for some A&C furniture with pewter inlay that referred to the pewter as "poured".  Made me wonder if there is a low melting temp product that might work as an inlay material.  Come on everybody!  Use your noggins. 

   By the way, if my pseudonym bothers some of you, my real-life name is Mike Brady.  I find it awkward to use a real name on the web...even a little scary.  Sorry.

1. 
   jazzdogg | Jul 01, 2005 04:28am | #2

   QS,

   A friend of mine, who specializes in making fine decorative boxes, utilizes a technique in which he combines powdered substances - turquoise, copper, etc. - with epoxy. He fills defects like knotholes & checks with these substances, converting them from liabilities to design features.

   It doesn't seem like it would be much of a stretch to use his technique to fill grooves or other recesses to create an appearance similar to solid inlaid copper, turquoise, pewter, bronze, etc.

   Like you, I am be curious to learn methods others have used successfully to inlay metallic substances in wood.

    -Jazzdogg-

   "The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt." Bertrand Russell

2. 
   FNbenthayer | Jul 01, 2005 04:55am | #4

   For cast in place inlays you might try Cerrosafe http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/store/ProductDetail.aspx?p=384

   Just an idea, never tried it myself.

    

    

     

    

    

    

   The awful thing is that beauty is mysterious as well as terrible. God and the devil are fighting there, and the battlefield is the heart of man.- Fyodor Dostoyevski

2. 
   Jamie_Buxton | Jul 01, 2005 04:52am | #3

   I've done some simple metal inlay.   I completed all my woodworking operations, including final sanding.  I cut the sheet-metal to the shape I wanted, then scribed the wood surface using the metal as a template.   I used a router set to the metal's thickness to remove most of the material inside the scribe line, and a chisel to get the last little bits.  I glued the metal in with epoxy.  Pretty straightforward, really.

1. 
   WillGeorge | Jul 02, 2005 12:06am | #6

   I've done some simple metal inlay..

   Same here.. But not often...

   GOOD use for my Incra fence on the router table.... You can route a really good fit with a sharp bit...

   I once used 'silver' (Monel alloy as I recall) welding rods to trim a door.. (Bit expensive but the lady was paying for it).. The original front door had something that looked like 'silver' strips so I just thought it would 'DO'...

   I have heard of the epoxy and metal powders but have never tried it.. Should work as my old brain sees it....

1. 
   Handrubbed | Jul 02, 2005 01:42am | #7

   Very interesting ideas.  I think I will experiment with all of these to see if a good result is within my skill.  Once again, amazing input from this forum.

3. 
   BenM | Jul 01, 2005 01:57pm | #5

   I've never done this but FWW has had a few articles.

   Issue 55 (Nov/Dec 1985) had an article on Poured Pewter Inlay.

   Also see Issues 40, 89 and 156 for articles on silver inlaying.

4. 
   mapleman | Jul 02, 2005 06:18am | #8

   Dover,

   I used a pewter based product a few years ago on a coffee table I built.  I purchased the stuff from Highland Hardware in Atlanta. I do not see it listed in their catalog any more, but they may be able to tell you if it is still available. Basically, you heat the rods with a torch, and let it flow into a routed recess. After it cools, you sand or scrape it flush with the surrounding wood (I found scraping left the best finish). Enclosed are some pics.

   Birdseyeman (my real name is Lee, in case anyone is offended)

   
1. 
   WillGeorge | Jul 03, 2005 09:23pm | #12

   Just LOVE that Kite!  Nice...

5. 
   mikegagne | Jul 03, 2005 09:03am | #9

   I did a poured pewter inlay on a laser cut image, The pewter parts were prepared for me by a friend but I remember that it has tin, antimony and lead which requires a lesser temp than a lot of metals. It came out real nice and I sanded the surface after cooling which brought the shine out in the pewter and removed the slight scorch from the oil in the wood. The wood was Koa and the image was a koa tree and the customer loved it. It represented an "art attack" in the middle of the job and hardly cost anything for the impact it created. I know of no books on the subject because I made it up as I went. Its likely there are a few books available now while back then there wasnt even an internet. Later, I also learned that denatured alcohol will clean the scorched oil off the surface that the laser cutting causes. I hope this makes some sense.....Aloha, mike

6. 
   Routerman | Jul 03, 2005 04:20pm | #10

   A simple mending plate is not too big of a deal; some procedural data on that in the last chapter of Taunton's "The Router Book". A tortuous and complicated design is another story.

   Routers

7. 
   douglas2cats | Jul 03, 2005 06:14pm | #11

   Both of these may be way more elaborate than what you're trying to do, but they're both good books for inlay techniques. They're both geared at doing designs on musical instruments, but the techniques can be applied to general WW projects. The Pearl Inlay book might have a little more in it re: techniques and tools, but the Larry Robinson book has more gallery pics and examples. If you do a google search, there are also how-to videos by Larry Robinson available.

   http://www.constantines.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=2478
   http://www.constantines.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=2479

   Waddaya mean it wont fit through the door?