Final steps in our inlay project

OK, the pieces are cut. Let's finish this woodworking project.

I found that I had to sand off some rough edges on my inserts, but otherwise they fit great. The only problem I had was that on my first plaque, I routed the inlay too deep, and the insert was actually below the surface of the plaque. Fortunately, I discovered this on a dry fit. By the way, if your push the insert into the cavity, you may have a heck of a time getting it back out. You don't want to damage the plaque in the area of the inlay. You may be able to pry it out using a utility knife. Or you can turn the plaque face down and whack it against your work bench to try to pop it loose. If all else fails, you can use a chisel to split the insert and dig out the pieces. That is why I made several extra inserts.

All is not lost if the cavity is too deep. I simply shimmed it up a bit by dropping in some course shavings from my planer. First I put in some white carpenter's glue using a small brush to make sure there was glue along the edges. Then I dropped in some shavings, and squeezed in a bit more glue and pushed in the insert. If you leave the insert a bit high, you can simply sand it even later.

I had my wife take a team picture when we won the bowling championship, and I printed out several copies on a color printer. So I wanted to include the picture on the plaque. Nifty idea, right? I have made picture frames out of scrap boards in the past, so I decided to use the same technique to route out a picture frame in the plaque. The first step is to make a jig to hold the plaque while I route out a hole.

This jig needs to be a bit deeper than the one I used for the inlay, because I will have to plunge the router all the way through the plaque. I don't need a backer under the plaque, because tear-out won't matter since I have to route a rabbet around the hole anyway.

I took a scrap piece of two-by-eight and sawed out enough room to hold the plaque. I then placed the plaque in the insert upside down on the table and nailed cleats on both sides so that when turned over the top of the plaque was even with the top of the jig. Then I screwed a scrap piece across the bottom of the jig so that I could hold the jig in a vice. This also keeps the jig from spreading when I shim in the plaque.

Now as in the other jig, I placed the plaque in the cutting position in the jig and transferred the center line of the plaque to the top of the jig. Placing a piece of 1/4 inch plywood so that the left side aligned with the jig and the top of the plywood aligned with the top of the cut-out, I transferee the centerline to the plywood.

Using a good square, I laid out a rectangle the size of the picture (adding 3/16 inch to both dimensions) so that it was centered on the centerline from the jig, and at the correct distance from the top of the plywood so that a cut-out would be just about a half inch from the bottom of the inlay on the plaque.

I drilled a half inch hole in the plywood near the edge of the lay-out line. Next I carefully nailed on strips of wood that precisely followed the layout lines. Notice from the picture, if you align your first strip with a vertical layout line so that the bottom of the strip also aligns with one of the horizontal layout lines, you never have to measure and cut any of the strips.

Next, I routed around the inside of the strips using a flush trimming bit This bit has a ball bearing guide that rides along the strips as the bit cuts the plywood in the exact size determined by the strips.

I tacked the template I had just made onto the jig and slid in a plaque. I installed a template guide collar into my router and a straight-cutting router bit. The collar has a diameter of 7/16 inch, while the bit has a diameter of 1/4 inch. That is why the lay-out (above) was 3/16 inch bigger than the picture.

I set the depth of cut to be just slightly more than the thickness of the inlayed plaque and the template combined. Then I plunged the router into the plaque and followed the template. Take small bites at a time. I used four or five passes to complete the cut. This process creates a lot of heat, and can ruin your router bit quickly if you try to take too much material at once.

This creates a nice rectangular hole in the plaque. Of course the corners are not square, they are rounded. If this bothers you, you can square up the corners with a chisel. I was satisfied with the rounded corners.

Now to rabbet out a place for the glass, matting, and picture, I used my router table with a rabbeting bit . This bit also has a ball bearing guide. Again, you need to take small passes. This is a pretty big bit and if you try to take too large a bite, the bit can grab and throw the piece of wood across the room. A router is a very powerful machine turning at a very high rate of speed. You have to show respect for all that power and move slowly. Starting at the top with the bottom of the plaque down on the table, move the piece around the router bit by moving left, then down the left side, right across the bottom, and up the right side. Take about 1/8 inch depth at a time. After each pass, turn off the router, raise the bit, and then begin again. Always keep your fingers as far from the bit as possible, using push sticks, or other safety devices with small pieces. I made several passes with the rabbeting bit, leaving about 1/4 inch depth.

To finish up the wood working part, I used a 1/4 inch round over bit (with a bearing) installed in my router table to round over the inside of the picture frame, and around the outside of the whole plaque. I then sanded the inlays flat using a random orbit sander, and used a progression of 120 grit, 150 grit, and 220 grit sand paper to sand everything smooth. I placed the plaque on some small blocks over some cardboard and used a good quality spray varnish. Three coats with light sanding in between coats (just enough to scuff the finish so the next coat adheres) was all it took.

I bought a pane of glass and a glass cutter at the local hardware store. The back of the frame has rounded corners, so before actually cutting the glass, I cut out a rectangular piece of cardboard that fit into the rabbeted opening. I then used the cardboard as a guide for cutting the glass.

Placing the glass on a flat surface, I marked the width of the glass with a marker using the cardboard model as a guide. Then using a square to guide the glass cutter, I made a score all the way across the glass. When doing this you have to use enough pressure to actually scratch the glass from one end to the other. You want to do this all in a single pass, because in trying to go over the same area a second time, you will invariably make parallel scratches and the glass will not break correctly.

So now I had divided the glass into a large section, and a narrower strip, separated by the score mark. I laid the larger section on a piece of 1/4 inch plywood that was larger than the glass, allowing the narrow strip to stick out over the end of the plywood, but still over the table top. The edge of the plywood was right at the score mark. I held a board on the larger side so that it was about even with the score mark, Placed a board as long as the narrow strip on the narrow strip and aligned it with the score mark, and rapped the board sharply with a hammer. This broke the glass in a nice straight cut. Then I repeated the process, breaking the narrow strip into panes that fit into the rabbet on the back of the frame.

I then matted and installed the picture behind the glass, and cut a piece of cardboard to fit behind the picture. I glued some felt onto the cardboard to make it look nice and used my staple gun to secure the cardboard in place.

Inlay project complete!

[Step 1: make a template][Step 2: cut pieces][Step 3: finish]