So, I'm gonna try to do some inlay carving and I
wanted to carve this yin-yang shape
onto this piece of wood. And the inlay that I want to use
is this darker piece of Oak.
And, I'm gonna use my router pantograph set to 1/3 scale.
So, to get this size of yin-yang
I need a template that's 3 times this size.
And, I'm gonna make this template
out of just a piece of cardboard
that I'm gonna glue down on some piece of hardboard.
So, I don't even need to use wood for my template.
With the 3 times scale
hopefully the cardboard will be accurate enough.
I need that circle that goes in the middle of a yin-yang to
be in exactly the right place.
So, I'm using the part that I just cut out to
help position that circle exactly where it needs to go.
If it's not in the right place the inlay that I'm gonna carve is just not gonna fit.
I'm using the part that I cut out of my positive
template to make another negative template.
Which I'll later use to
shape the part that I'll actually inlay into the cavity that I'm gonna carve.
Now, here's checking the geometry to figure out where I need to position the stock
so that this yin-yang won't be cut in the center of it.
I need to make a cylinder for follower that's exactly
3 times the size of my router bit.
And, just putting a piece of wood on a piece of rod
and holding that against the belt sander does a really nice job
of shaping a nice and accurate cylinder.
So, here's my routed out cavity.
Now I need to make an inlay that fits exactly into there.
So, now using my reverse template
which is made out of the pieces that I cut out of my first template.
I'm gonna carve out the exact opposite of that shape
the mate with the cavity I just cut.
So, here I cut the outline of my inlay.
Next I'm using the band saw to cut the inlay piece off of it's backing.
So, I can actually inlay it into a piece of wood.
Now, removing the burrs from the edges and then cleaning out
some of the rough spots that I missed on the bottom.
Now, I couldn't rub all the way into the corner of the tail.
So, here I'm marking the outline of the actual tail.
And, then I chisel that out
by hand.
Now, here's gluing it in.
And it turned out to be a much tighter fit than I had anticipated.
So, I have to take some persuasive measures.
Now, I'm just rubbing some glue and sawdust into the edges
Does a pretty good job of hiding some of the imperfections.
And, now sanding everything flush.
So, the contrast of the two woods doesn't show up as strongly as I was hoping for.
But a little bit of varnish on the surface usually really helps to bring that out.
So, there it is with the varnish. Looks much better that way.