Decided to try doing some marquetry on this wooden mal I built about 8 years ago.
Drew out the design then routered 2mm deep.
The paulownia deck skin is 6mm (1/4’') thick.
Routered to about 2mm inside the pencil line, then cut the rest using a scalpel and a steel ruler.
The brown timber is Eastern Mahogany and the yellow wood is Huon pine from Tasmania.
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Glue used Titebond 3.
The other timbers are camphor laurel and red cedar and the yellowish chain link pattern is hoop pine.
All timbers about 3mm thick leaving 1mm to sand off.
After sanding, here is how the colours popped under glass.
What surprised me was the various tones in the chain link pattern, from some viewing angles it’s as if it has sprinkles of gold dust.
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Overhead view shows one of the chain links much darker than the other.
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That is really beautiful work! Thank you for sharing.
Very nice work. It would be interesting to see the jig or router set-up and technique explored in more detail. As a marquetarian I am always interested in new techniques. I saw Bob Olson put a marquetry inlay on one of his Long Boards, but did not see the initial set up for routing. Any chance you might enlighten us?
Thanks for this post! really great.
Hi spkrrpr
That is all the photos of the process I have.
I used a hand router with a 6mm (1/4’‘) router bit, the straight lines were easy to do using a metal ruler and scalpel.
For the curved lines I used the "J’’ shaped pieces as a guide for the scalpel.
Here is an earlier one I did, the timber is camphor laurel which is regarded as an invasive species here in Australia but some of the bloodlines and 3D wavy patterns in the wood are incredible.
Speaking of Marquetry have you ever checked out the Hannah Cabinet, it took 6 years to make and is an absolutely mind blowing piece of craftmanship.
(the woodwork starts around 16 min)
Geoff Hannah: A Passion for Cabinets - YouTube
Congratulacions. Great work.
Very beautiful work Marvin. You have a steady hand. For an “invasive species” I think someone could make a fortune harvesting camphor laurel for the veneer producers here in the States, and thin out the herd in the process! The figuring is incredible.
I will check the link for the hannah cab.
Keep up (and post) the beautiful marquetry work!
Cheers!
I checked out the Hannah Cab video. Incredible. Hannah is a genius.
thanks for that!
