String and Fan Made Simple Pre-made parts let you focus on the fun. By Glen Jewell with Joe Hurst-Wajszczuk

or centuries, furnituremakers straightforward and easy to master. Stringing and banding are have employed moldings and Like a clever magic trick, inlay looks sometimes used interchangeably, Finlays not only to delight and harder to do than it really is. Broken but technically, stringing implies direct the eye, but also to command down to the basic steps, it’s nothing narrower lines and banding refers to a higher price for their work. The more than cutting a recess to fi t some wider and more intricate designs. stringing and inlays that I used on the stock. To do this trick yourself, you top of the candlestick table on page 54 need only a few basic and the bits. After your fi rst attempt, you can were very popular during the Federal inlay material. choose to expand your inlay skills, or period, but the technique is timeless. At some point you may want to stick with the strip and bit trick and The combination of sophistication try your hand at making your own employ it in any number of decorative and simplicity makes inlay just as bands and sand-shaded fans, but a projects, from tables to boxes to effective and interesting today as it was time-saving (and historically accurate) picture frames. 200 years ago. option is to purchase the materials Most of us don’t realize—perhaps from an ebonist, a veneer and inlay because those Colonial cabinetmakers specialist. The biggest advantage to Note: For tools and supplies mentioned never wanted their clients to fi gure using pre-made lines is that they are in this story see the Convenience-Plus

it out—that the basic inlay process is roughly thicknessed to fi t standard Buying Guide on page 64. PHotoS: K.d. Lett

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3 Use a light pencil line about /8" in from the top using a Dremel-type out the corners of the groove the edge to mark where the with a base and edge guide. and clean out any packed-in chips stringing will turn around the edge of the top. using a small chisel or pick.

Create the slot Once you’ve set your bit and made To miter the stringing ends, all you Before starting, inspect your tabletop. a test cut in scrap, you’re ready to rout. need are two simple jigs and a sharp The surface should be flat and smooth. Holding the edge guide firmly against chisel. Starting with a long strip, use a Too much scraping or sanding after the the edge of your workpiece, rout from 60° ramp to cut the miter on one end inlay’s installed could mar or pull out the right to left as shown in Photo B. Stop (Photo E). Now fit the strip into the thin decoration. Following a light finish- routing at your penciled corner lines. groove and cut the miter on the opposite sanding, use a pencil and straightedge Finish the groove and clean out the end. In time, you’ll be able to do this by to mark where the stringing will change packed-in chips by hand as shown in eye, but starting out you might want to direction as shown in Photo A. Photo C. To do this, you can use a #11 mark out the miter angle on a wedge, as To cut the narrow inlay channel, blade and a hobby knife or make your shown in Photo F. Focus on cutting the hand-tool enthusiasts might want to own custom clean-up tools. stringing perfectly perpendicular so that go the traditional route and use the the joint is tight from top to bottom.

corner of a cabinet scraper or special t A light touch on the grinding You don’t want the joint to open up cutting tool. However, for speed and wheel can transform a when leveling the inlay with the top. Cut convenience, I recommend using a used dental tool or small the stringing exactly at the layout line eyeglass screwdriver into a Dremel or similar rotary carving tool ip aler so that the ends squeeze together when

t handy miniature chisel. with an edge guide and an end mill. pressed in place. Once cut and fit, leave The disadvantage to using a plug-in the stringing halfway in to help position tool is that you can make an irreparable Test-Fit the stringing the fans. mistake in an instant, but considering At this point, the 1/20"-thick stringing that one router pass does the work of should be a little too thick to fit the Fit the fans a dozen or more passes with a scratch groove. So far so good. The best-fitting The pre-made fans come with the stock, I think the benefit outweighs the lines require some fine-tuning and test outside face covered in veneer tape risk. Here, we’ll cut a 3/64" wide groove fitting. and surrounded in a piece of veneer to accommodate the 1/20" stringing, The first step is to taper the to protect the delicate edges during which measures a hair wider. thickness of the stringing so that it shipping. This means that you’ll need to The depth of cut depends on your fits the groove. To do this, first lightly cut them free before positioning them material, but I try to adjust the height the stringing on one side as on your workpiece. The only trick here of the bit so that the installed inlay sits shown in Photo D. The exact angle is to take your time. Using a hobby knife about 1/32" proud of the surface. This isn’t critical; I simply rest the back with a fresh #11 blade, lightly score the height minimizes the amount of time end of my block on my bench, perimeter of the fan to avoid catching required to scrape and sand flush, and skewed about 25° to the stringing, the grain, as shown in Photo G. reduces the risk of splitting or pulling and make a few light passes over it to Gradually add pressure with each out the inlay. create the taper. successive pass, until you cut through

62 woodcraft magazine F e b /M a r 2 0 0 9 D E F

Plane a slight bevel in the edge of the Guide the chisel with a 60º ramp Trim the opposite end of the stringing in place. stringing for a cork-tight fit. to make precise miter cuts. The annotated 5º wedge protects the top and provides a handy miter guide. the veneer and paper. Clean up the edge carefully score the outline of the fan’s just flush with the ground. After making with a . Keep the edges radius in the top. As before, make the a test cut, remove the stringing and rout for a seamless fit. cut in several passes so that the blade the recess. I cut the recess in two steps. This six-sided top has more corners does not get caught by the grain. First, I use a Dremel-type tool with a than most tables, so you’ll get plenty After scribing the fan’s outline, chisel 5/16" flat bottom mortising bit to hog of practice, but the inlay process is the out a shallow trench on the fan side of out most of the waste. To sneak up to same regardless of the corner count. your line as shown in Photo H. This the lines I switch to a router plane as First, register the edges of the fan trench not only provides a safe buffer shown in Photo I, but you can also use tightly against the installed stringing. when routing the recess freehand, but a sharp chisel. Temporarily reinstall the Sand the straight edges of the inlay it also reduces any chance of tear-out stringing as you go so the lines do not so that they fit tightly against the along the good edge. get mixed up. stringing. Holding the fan in place Now you’re ready to rout. Use the

with one hand, veneer tape facing up, inlay to set the bit depth so the inlay is t Label the fans and their matching corners as you cut their recesses to make sure that they aren’t mixed ip ip aler

t up during assembly.

G H I

Free the fans from the backer veneer Chisel a shallow groove to Use a router plane to work up to the scribed with a hobby knife. Use a sanding defend the scribed line against line and adjust the recess depth. Regrind the block to square the edges. accidental bit or blade contact. square tip to a point to clean out tight corners.

w w w . W o o d c r a f t M a g a z i n e . c o m woodcraft magazine 6 3 J K L

Press the inlay into the grooves with a the fans in place with custom-cut Using the chisel bevel down, pare or chisel handle. Be careful cauls. Wrap the faces of the blocks with away the excess stringing. Work not to split the stringing. packing tape so they don’t stick. with the grain to avoid splintering.

If a piece gets stuck during impossibly tight. Working one side at a then level the inlay with a sanding the fi tting process, work a time, inject a small of yellow glue block or scraper. Top off your newly knife or pick under one end into the bottom of the groove. Butt the inlaid tabletop with your favorite and lift it out. Prying it out on an edge could damage stringing against its mating face and fi lm fi nish. Tip alerT Tip the stringing. press it in place, as shown in Photo J. Apply pressure gradually until the inlay A sanding block is usually an is evenly seated and the excess glue is effective leveler, but in some install the string squeezed out. Wipe off excess glue with cases, the dust muddies the and fans a damp rag. To install the fans, brush bright colors of the inlay. When that happens, switch When installing inlay, the trick is glue into the recesses, then press and alerT Tip to a scraper. to work quickly. Moisture from the clamp the fans into place (Photo K). glue will swell the walls of the groove After the glue sets, chisel or plane off and the inlay, making a once snug fi t the high spots as shown in Photo L,

Convenienc e - PLUS BUYING GUIDE ITEM WOODCRAFT # PRICE

Woodriver Glue Syringes, 148674 $5.99 1. Bag of 5 Above items are available at Woodcraft stores, woodcraft.com or by calling (800) 225-1153. Prices subject to change without notice. available from Technology, (616) 676-1792: SapFM 2. 3 /64" bit, $7.50 available from Stewart-MacDonald, (800) 225-1153: 5 3. #5260 precision router Base, $52.55; #4032 /16" router Bit, $16.19 available from Dover Designs, llC (301) 733-0909: Candle Table inlay Kit—includes Six 1"×120° Fans and 4. 1 3 Two /20× /32×36" Banding Strips, $29.80 plus shipping and handling.

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