Stringing, Fluting, Beading and such


Chip Sawdust

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First one done. Didn’t have the exact curve gouge for this size fan, so there’s a little nick in the black on the left outer side. Not to worry, I think. I cut the arcs a little farther away from the fan then rubbed the edge on a sanding block with 150 grit. Worked fine!

4916F547-F390-4DD1-9220-A4C208605456.jpeg

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On 7/23/2019 at 7:54 PM, pkinneb said:

Great post! If you think about it can you share the FWW volume number?

Here’s a link to a Popular Woodworking video that shows another way to do it.

 https://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/creating-inlay-one-step-at-a-time/

there are some on YouTube as well, but I like starting with the quarter fan idea and progressing to messIng up a whole oval rofl 

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1 hour ago, Chip Sawdust said:

Here’s a link to a Popular Woodworking video that shows another way to do it.

 https://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/creating-inlay-one-step-at-a-time/

there are some on YouTube as well, but I like starting with the quarter fan idea and progressing to messIng up a whole oval rofl 

Awesome thanks!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Chip,

I have read this thread with great interest since I am trying to learn how to inlay myself. Your work is very impressive and you are way ahead of me. One problem I am having is with the lie nielsen style thicknesser. I got the cutters as you did from LN and made my own thicknesser. However, I am not able to get shavings like Steve Latta. I assumed the cutters would not need to have a burr burnished from the factory. Were your's sharp enough? When I pull the stringing through I get intermittent shavings, some dust, and catches which leave the surface rough and uneven. I also wasnt sure which side of the blade faces out, the flat or beveled. I tried both ways with no appreciable difference. I ran one blade bevel over sandpaper to raise a burr as I saw in one of Steve's videos but that helped only marginally. If I do need to burnish a new burr what method should i use? Sorry to have so many questions. Thanks for any help you can provide.

 

Woody

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On 8/16/2019 at 8:56 PM, woodydixon said:

Chip,

I have read this thread with great interest since I am trying to learn how to inlay myself. Your work is very impressive and you are way ahead of me. One problem I am having is with the lie nielsen style thicknesser. I got the cutters as you did from LN and made my own thicknesser. However, I am not able to get shavings like Steve Latta. I assumed the cutters would not need to have a burr burnished from the factory. Were your's sharp enough? When I pull the stringing through I get intermittent shavings, some dust, and catches which leave the surface rough and uneven. I also wasnt sure which side of the blade faces out, the flat or beveled. I tried both ways with no appreciable difference. I ran one blade bevel over sandpaper to raise a burr as I saw in one of Steve's videos but that helped only marginally. If I do need to burnish a new burr what method should i use? Sorry to have so many questions. Thanks for any help you can provide.

 

Woody

Anyone?

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 8/16/2019 at 5:56 PM, woodydixon said:

Chip,

I have read this thread with great interest since I am trying to learn how to inlay myself. Your work is very impressive and you are way ahead of me. One problem I am having is with the lie nielsen style thicknesser. I got the cutters as you did from LN and made my own thicknesser. However, I am not able to get shavings like Steve Latta. I assumed the cutters would not need to have a burr burnished from the factory. Were your's sharp enough? When I pull the stringing through I get intermittent shavings, some dust, and catches which leave the surface rough and uneven. I also wasnt sure which side of the blade faces out, the flat or beveled. I tried both ways with no appreciable difference. I ran one blade bevel over sandpaper to raise a burr as I saw in one of Steve's videos but that helped only marginally. If I do need to burnish a new burr what method should i use? Sorry to have so many questions. Thanks for any help you can provide.

 

Woody

Hi Woody sorry I’ve been busy building another piece of furniture now I’m ready to post it :) 

i had the exact same problem when I bought the LN blades and made my sizing jig, so I can absolutely answer your question.

when I made the wooden holder I just rabbeted the side for the blades and called it good. Nope, that worked like crap! I looked again at the LN tool and Latta’s holder and realized the blades have to align with the tool thusly: 

 

A7B4C618-A3D4-44FD-BFE2-2E740E370EC1.jpeg

I didn’t want to build a new tool so I made a thin piece to fill the gap. You can see the blade orientation as well in this pic. I did burr the blades which helped them cut, but they probably didn’t need it. I did that while I was still fussing around with trying to get the original holder to work. 

I hope that helps! 

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No problem Chip. I'm not entirely clear on what you are showing me. Did you cut the rabbit all the way across the front at first and then fill in the front of the middle part with a scrap piece to line up with the edge of the blade? When cut mine I just chiseled out each side separately. Also, are the cutters mounted straight up and down in the holder or are they slanted so that the inlay would be tapered? I have used wood screws to hold the cutters but it looks like the LN version has some sort of cap or barrel nut on the back. Would did you use?

Mine is cutting better when I finally was able to get a burr on the cutter and I started using 1/16 inch inlay. Thanks for your help.

 

Woody

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Yup that’s what I did. Rabbet and fill, and even my fill could be more in line with the blades. I didn’t angle them at all; I do seem to get a slight taper on my strings though. I may have to take another look. 

Another thing if you look at the LN holder is they’re drilled at the bottom, which allows a sized string to drop out and be pulled through without further ado. Lessons learned :) 

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  • 1 month later...

So by now I’ve been watching Latta’s video on paterae- never thought I’d be thinking about making that kind of inlay but it’s a challenge. And hey, it’s a hobby! I need a scroll saw and I’ve been looking into veneer hammers but haven’t decided yet on either. I like the DeWalt scroll saw but $500 is too dear. Probably the Wen is more in line with my budget and abilities. I can’t seem to find a local old Rockwell with the sewing machine action that would be really sweet. More to come :) 

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On 10/29/2019 at 7:35 AM, Mark J said:

Budgets are such a bit...shhhhop...., yeah it's a family web site.  

I don't have a scroll saw, but I gotta believe the most important feature will be vibration management.  

Yes I bolt everything down, almost. I’ve been looking at fret type saws, the deep coping saw, if you will. But I think for any serious work even I don’t have the patience for that much hand work. I like to see progress! 
With our dog getting dental surgery next week I think the budget will be in bits and pieces - just in time for holiday shopping *shrug*

Meanwhile I’ve landed a book on marquetry and am enjoying the read. :) 

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  • 1 month later...

I also use my block plane to joint the stringing material after I cut each string. My cutter does fairly well but I really need to build a proper one. I use a marking gauge I built - for marking. And put an Exacto blade in it. So I joint the stringing material in between each cut by dragging it along the block plane.

Here I'm showing the results of one pass over some banding I made way back. It works well on that, too.

Another thing Woody if your string gets caught in the sizer, pull it at an angle to skew it like you would a block plane over stubborn grain. That keeps the blade from stopping on a stubborn spot on the string. :)

UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_501.jpg

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I tried my hand at treble stringing yesterday. It’s not all that hard, but I wouldn’t call it easy. After routing the groove, the individual strings have to be thicknessed. Keeping in  mind the wood swells a bit with glue, the three have to fit well, but easily. It’s a fine line.

I started by trying to glue the three together just on the end, which didn’t really work. I added glue as I went along, which was messy but it worked. I was using the syringe I use for all my stringing and some yellow glue. 

47663F24-0EE9-47D9-994D-9FA20295C153.jpeg

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I've seen worse than that on really old, nice pieces of furniture, that I'm sure were built by pros, and the piece sold for a lot of money in its time.   

You're building your skill level very fast with this, and I appreciate your posting about it.   This is one thing I've done very little of.

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