Inlay strips in solid top

[dwfitz44]

Hey guys,

I'm building a version of the trestle table that Marc built a while back.  I'm making the entire thing out of soft maple.  I'll use 6/4 for the top milled down to whatever thickness I'm left with by the time everything is square and parallel.  I will not stain the piece.  I was thinking it would look pretty cool to add a decorative inlay into the top.  I'm thinking about adding a 2 inch wide rectangle band, made of mahogany, inset about 3 inches from the outside edge of the table top.  I've attached a poor sketchup rendition.

I'm worried about wood movement and how that may, over time, impact the integrity of the inlay.  What are your thoughts?  Good idea?  Bad idea?

David's Desk #3.skp

[Eric.]

You should embed your photo instead of attaching it...

 

I've done the same thing, had the same concerns, and asked the same questions...and received no definitive answers.  It's been done for centuries a la holly stringing, etc.  It does seem to break the fundamental rules of wood movement, but for some reason that I can't pinpoint, it doesn't seem to matter.  Perhaps because the inlay is so thin it essentially "stretches" with the movement.  I don't know...either way, the inlay in this table top still has perfectly tight miters after several years.

 

I might be a bit concerned with trying to inlay such a large strip.  I'd say it's a gamble at best, a disaster at worst.

[wtnhighlander]

Can't say I've ever seen a solid wood, wide band inlay, such as you described. Typically you see string inlay, like Eric's table, or band inlay that is constructed of many segments, glued together. In fact, it makes sense to use segments of end grain as banding to let the banding move in a similar way as the substrate wood.

[Beechwood Chip]

Plywood also breaks all the rules of wood movement, but the plies are thin and the glue is strong, and it seems to work.

[wdwerker]

Or you could make cross grain banding for the cross grain sections. A drum sander would make this pretty easy.

[dwfitz44]

Thanks for the replies.  I wouldn't call myself a new woodworker, but I am transitioning to the stage where I would prefer to allow my creative side take on more prominence in my woodworking.  The hard part is that the mechanics still have to work.  I'll spend some time reading about your suggestions and let you know what direction I head in.  If any of you have any good reference material on this subject, let me know.