I really like the way the compass rose came out.  I think I might try to see if I can do a little bit of grain filling, or look for a little bit less porous dark wood next time around.  You can see the finish gave the Walnut that I used a little bit of a darker filling in the grain lines.  Not an effect I was shooting for, but I’m sure nobody but me cares about it either!

And since this is a short post, I’ll throw in some gratuitous shots of the cutting boards I just completed.

Most commercial veneer is thin, 1/42nd or so.  So you don’t have a lot of room to work with, once you’ve inlaid the compass rose.  That means you need to make sure your inlay surface is ready to go.   I used this maple panel with a little bit of curl to it.  This has been pre-sanded to 320.

You start by solidly taping down the inlay in its final position.  Note the X on the work.  I’ve also drawn a corresponding X (unseen) on the edge of the work so that I can return this to the correct position later.   Although your inlay may seem to be uniform, I assure you, it is not!

Then you begin to trace the inlay with an exacto knife (with a fresh blade) around the outside edge of the inlay.  When using an exacto like this, you want to make sure you’re using the inlay itself as a reference surface, and that you are performing a light scoring cut.  You want to cut to the depth of the inlay (a little deeper actually works fine), but you don’t want to try and do this in one pass!  You start with a light scoring cut, then you go over it again and again until you’ve got depth.  If you try this all in one pass you’re going to do one or both of these bad things:  You’ll slice into the inlay, or you’ll cut off path off into the inlay surface.

I tried to show, in this fuzzy photo, the light scoring cut.

Here you can see I’ve finished the scoring of the outside of the inlay.   Before I route, I like to use a pencil (a chalk bag also works) to highlight the lines so that they’re easier to see when I am routing.  A work lamp you can position closely also helps in the next step.

Router prep, I use a 1/4″ downcut spiral bit, followed by a 1/8th, to remove the bulk of the waste inside the inlay.  I think the Festool OF1010 is one of the better routers for this step, because you can index your zero against the work surface, as in this photo.  (See the screw pillar on the right, with the bit resting on the surface, but not scratching it.)

Then, with the router locked into position, you take a piece of scrap veneer the same width (don’t use the veneer tape covered inlay itself, as you’ll cut too deep!), and you slowly raise the microadjust on the depth stop until the veneer just barely goes in between the post and the depth stop.

You begin slowly, working around the outside, then eventually clearing up to the center with the 1/4″ spiral bit.

You want to stay clear of the lines.  You aren’t cutting TO the lines, just fairly close.  I’ll be chucking up a 1/8th afterwards for cleanup and to get closer into the corners.  Once you’ve got the inlay routed as close as you dare, you switch to chisels for cleanup.    This is a similar task to cleaning up your dovetails, but there won’t be any mallet work involved.  A sharp chisel and hand pressure should be sufficient to free up the 1/42nd inch you need to remove to seat the inlay.  If you’ve taken good time to clean up the edges of the inlay, you can use a large chisel on most sides.    Since you’ve cut deeply enough with your exacto, you should not need to cut the outside edge, as in this photo.

But merely flip the chisel, using your bearing surface to make the chisel work like a chisel plane, and slowly pare to your xacto line.

You can see I’ve finished one of the minor points on the top right in this photo.   This can be a fairly slow process, but ultimately worth the painstaking time.  Here’s a closeup of the same point.

There are a few hairs of grain on the right side that I’ll carefully trim back with the exacto.  After another hour or two of careful work, I’ve finished the first pass in the inlay’s final resting place.

Now I begin the dry fit.   Keep in mind the inlay is thin wood.  Once the water based glue comes in contact, there will be a tiny bit of gap filling going on, so the inlay should not be so tight you have to force it in place.  Take the time to check each of the major and minor points of the compass rose and make sure the inlay does two things; that it seats properly flush with the surface of the wood (don’t count the veneer tape, which should be above the surface) and that the sides line up cleanly.  Remove any hairs or impediments to the inlay seating properly with your sharpened fine chisels.

Glue up!  Now would be a good time to cross your fingers and pray to an appropriate diety.    I fill the inlay, right to the edges, with an appropriate layer of Titebond 3.  Don’t overdo it on the glue, or soak it too hard.  Make sure the layer is thin, but covers the bottom of the inlaid surface.  Don’t put any on the veneer itself!   Position and tape the inlay into position.  Double check now for any protruding surfaces.  Once you clamp or bag it, the clamps or bag won’t “fix” overlapping veneer, they’ll just ensure it ends up glued tightly.  Then, bag it up and leave it overnight.   This is one time when you don’t want to count on a 2-4 hour glue set up time.  Leave it.  Trust me.

Once out of the bag, inspect for overlapping veneer.  Provided you don’t have any, its time to move on to removing the veneer tape.  I have a small spray bottle of distilled water.   Then i use a card scraper and start to work through the layers of veneer tape.  Since you have several layers, you’ll probably have to spritz a few times to get all of it.  Keep paper towels handy to wipe the veneer schmutz off your card scraper.

Take your time and let it dry thoroughly.  Again, no rushing here.    I left mine overnight in a warm part of the house to make sure the water wasn’t going to mess with the surface.    The next day, I hit the shop again, gave it a very light sanding, and a wipe down with mineral spirits to see how it came out.

Didn’t require any cleanup!  Ready to finish!

I have most of the tools Mike mentioned, but I created some others, like a veneer cutting board, a cheap MDF 22.5 degree triangle.

I also created a ‘veneer jointer’ out of some sandpaper and plywood.

I cut the veneer 3×2 (one of them has some extra length) 8 pieces of each (2 roses). Then used my mdf triangle and the cutting board to produce my triangles. After cutting, I laid them out on some white paper so I could check for gaps and sand as necessary.

Then I taped up the triangles.

Then the whole kit.

Then I flipped it over and began on the veneer tape.

With the veneer tape dry, (it can take a while and a rush here is a bad idea.) I moved on to cutting the first triangles.

I got them all cut, jointed as necessary, and re-taped.

Then we flip it over. Starting to look quite like a compass rose now!

And veneer tape the heck out of it…

Then its back to the drying phase. Again, no rushing. Finally, its time to cut away the spare veneer to reveal the minor compass points. I went over this once lightly with a pencil, before I did any cutting, so I made sure I wasn’t cutting on the wrong point. It can be tricky and I came very close to accidentally chopping off a major point, so I think its worth taking the time to pre-mark these.

With everything cut, I began to peel back layers and trim the veneer tape off the excess veneer.

When done, you’re left with a compass rose! (Note there’s a tiny bit of veneer tape showing on the edges of some pieces. This will need to be carefully trimmed back before I try and inlay the piece into its final home.

This is by far the simplest tool in the batch.  Really, its just a block of wood with 2 cuts, 2 rabbets, and 4 screws.

I didn’t think to actually take a live action photo of the uncut wood.  I’m sure you’ve seen curly maple before!  I put the two cuts in that I’ll be pulling the inlay through, and lined up the cutters to verify the size of the rabbet.

Then I lined up the cutters, with extra deep holes.

Recessed the holes, remounted the cutters, and cut a fairly simple and rough mortise, for clamping the block to the benchtop.

That is really all there is to it!

Some layout lines, and some cleanly sliced fibers with a Czeck Edge tool, and I’ve begun the hand cut mortise that will hold the crossbar.

I use my widest chisel, registering in the sliced fibers, to lightly relieve the cutlines, which provides a nice solid surface to register the chisel against for mortising actions.

Hogging out the waste is the same process as my previous tool, the Straight Line Cutter. No need to repeat those photos!.

Before I do any further shaping work, this time I think ahead and drill out the hole for the threaded insert and the final hole that the screw of the knurled knob passes through.

With the threaded insert in place, I’m ready to continue.

I drilled out a hole for the 1/4″ brass stock (boy, I’m getting a lot of use out of this 1 foot 1/4″ brass rod, 3 projects so far, $1.72!) and the hole runs true with the crossbar. I also laid out the brass rub strip. I ran out of 3/4″ x 3/32″ brass stock, so this time I’m using 1″ x 3/32″. I also sent off an order for more of that thin stock. Quite useful, and easily workable.

I did the preliminary brass work, rounding off a nub on the end of the brass rod, and cutting it down to size for the guide bar, as well as doing the cutoff on the flat stock for the rub strip.

I created the rabbet for the rub strip, and did some fine tuning, since I ended up a bit shy of the final depth I was looking for.

I started shaping the body with bandsaw and belt/oss sander.

And we’re looking good!

With cutter in position.   I lightly inset the cutter with my little router plane, to help ensure the cutter didn’t move at all.

Fin!

Like the first tool, all I had was a resized and pixelated image from the L-N website, the cutter, and some thin brass bar stock from Speedy Metals.

I trimmed an 8/4 block to size, and then used the offcut to give myself a nice 4/4 square crossbar.  I also selected the 3/32″ x 3/4″ brass stock.  360 Brass is an extremely workable material, and it doesn’t rust, which makes it an excellent metal for integrating into your woodworking tools.

I laid out the general shape of my final tool, and marked where I’d like the various mortise and rub strip to be located at.

The hardest part would be to keep the mortise walls perpendicular, so that the beam that supports the cutter will remain in line with the work.  You don’t want your inlay skewed into the workpiece sideways, and if the radius cutter’s teeth don’t run in a straight line, the width of your inlay will be the wrong size for the work.    First, I bored out most of the waste.

Then I used my marking knife (made from a kit from Czeck Edge) and a backer block to edge a nice straight line from corner to corner.   I then lightly chiseled and relieved the edge, to give myself a nice reference surface.

Here’s my in-action shot, of truing up the sides of the mortise all around.

The bar drops in, and remains almost dead perpendicular.

Given I did it with hand tools, the mortise is probably as dead true as I’m going to be able to make it.

If you’d like to cheat, then I suggest you hog out the hole with an undersize forstner bit, make a template, and slowly remove the side wall waste with a flush pattern trim bit on your router table, and only do the final corner bits by hand, so you’ll have 4 large surfaces to reference against.

Next I cut the overhang area, where the brass wear strip will be mounted, and that the tool will ride on.

I did this in a 2-cut pass on the tablesaw, with no trapped waste.  It was just just shy of perfect, so that the ATB blade I had loaded would not leave an unsightly groove.  I cleaned out the small nib with a rabbet block plane.

With that cleaned up, I cut the brass stock to size with a hacksaw, and taped it in place so that I could predrill the screw holes into my stock.  You’ll notice that the whole piece is fastened in place pretty well.   I find when working with metal, this is worth the few extra seconds.

I got the holes drilled out, and just barely let the countersink touch them.

This is why I hate multi-flute countersinks.  Inevetible chatter.

I have to pick up a single flute job for this particular brass screw.  On the todo list!   I removed the screws and began to clean up the holes by hand with the multi-flute as best I could.

I mounted the wear strip, and screwed it in.  You’ll notice the screw heads do protrude a tiny bit.  Yes, this is on purpose!  I find if you leave them a bit proud, that after you file them down, you get a much tighter fit than if you set them in all the way, since the screw’s lip is rounded, and the countersink is a straight wall.

Then I filed it flush with the bottom of the body of the tool.

Looking good so far.

I probably should have taken this step earlier, since I’m not balancing the tool on a half-side, hence the elaborate clamping, so lesson learned!  So much easier to make a mistake like this once you’ve got a good aftermarket drill press table!  The hole is for the 1/4-20 threaded insert which will hold the knurled bolt that retains the cutter bar’s distance from the work.

This is my favorite way to install a threaded insert.  The only thing I would also have done is to put a washer in place between the first nut and the threaded insert, but I needed this insert to sit slightly below the level of the wood to hide it.   I never use the flats cut into the threaded insert, as they almost always leave some thin shavings in the well of the threaded insert, which eat up the brass threads.   I probably should have used an actual brass insert, but I didn’t have any, and these were included with a Rockler T-Track make-your-own kit I got, so I used them!

With brass knurled knob installed!

With the retaining knob out of the way, I moved back to the wear strip, and my effort to pretty it up.  I got my very fine bastard file, and went to town.  I followed it up with some 320grit to give it a slightly better polish.  I don’t take it any higher than that on a work surface like this.  It isn’t jewelry, its a tool!

Some quick work at the bandsaw, followed by the belt/OSS sander, and we’ve got a shape pleasing to my fat hands.   Although the tool is a bit oversized, I find I get a good comfortable grip on it.  Perhaps a I’ll eventually “Krenov” it to fit my hand, once I try it out some.

Last up, I’ve got to prep the cutter bar to hold the cutter.  Quick eyeball layout.

Pre-drilled hole looks good.

And we’re good to go!

It cuts beautifully.

Next up, Slicing Gauge!

I mounted the radius cutter, going about 1/16th to 1/8th deeper than the brass pivot point, so that the cutter will remain as perpendicular to the work as possible.  Since the holes in the cutter to attach it to the tool are oval, there is some room for adjustment later on.

It isn’t perfect, but my version bears a faint similarity to the wholeheartedly cloned L-N/Latta version.  (Cheesy pixelated/resized Internet photo in the background there!)  Based on my eyeball sizing, I made this tool oversized, much like the others will undoubtedly be.

I have to admit though, aesthetic concerns aside, the tool cuts a pretty neat curve.  I can tell that this tool is one that will definitely require some practice to master.  While this circle looks good, there are some areas where I could tell that the depth was uneven.  I think I might create a small depth stop gauge to slide onto the cutter, so that I can do a ‘final pass’ against a depth stop and make sure that I have a nice uniform seat for the inlay strips to register against.

Also, I’ve discovered that I should make the head as small as I can, and get the pivot point moved up as far as I can. This tool limits my ability to make small circles somewhat.  I think my minimum is about ~2 inches, which is OK, but I may choose to make a second one in smaller dimensions to insure I can make smaller circles.  The thing to keep in mind, is that the distance between the pivot point and the cutter is the final circle’s radius, not it’s diameter!  We’ll see how it works in practice.

Now, in order to make the inlay, I’ve got to create the other tools so that I can test out my circular cutter!

Somehow I managed to lose the first few photos of my progress on the first tools, so I apologize in advance.  I decided to start with what appears to be the most difficult of the 4 tools, the Radius Cutter.  At it’s heart, this consists of 2 parallel guide bars, a cutter, and pinion, and a set screw to keep the bars from sliding.

Since I’ve lost my original photos, I’ll have to improvise and describe my process.   I bought some 1/4″ brass rod stock from my favorite metals supplier, Speedy Metals.  (I’m also a bit of an amateur metalworker, but that is another blog post entirely!)

I also used some scrap cherry, and drilled two long 1/4″ holes through it.  I then cut about an inch off the end for the ‘head’ of the inlay tool, and glued the two rods into the head with Epoxy.  I didn’t properly plan how the epoxy was going to get out of the hole, and while pushing the rods in, perhaps a little too aggressively, I managed to split the head.    However, the 5 minute epoxy leaked through the small split, and dried quickly enough to keep the head a solid.   Sort of a self-fixing mistake.

On the other half of the body, I brought a burr up on the end of some brass rod stock, and used it like a scraper to help widen the holes enough to make the passage of the body over the brass rod nice and smooth, then installed a 1/4-20 threaded insert, and trimmed a brass 1/4-20 knurled knob down to appropriate length to act as the stop mechanism.  Here’s the main body.

The other portion of the tool is the actual pivot point that the radius cutter registers the body on.  I was thinking about doing another inset nut and grind or file a screw head, but I realized this doesn’t really need to be adjustable.   I don’t see myself doing any inlay on a very curved surface.  I decided to just grind a nice point on a piece of brass stock, then trim it off and simply epoxy it in place.   Ive made so many mistakes at this point I’ll probably do a less error-prone version of this tool eventually,  so why not.

That should do it for today!