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I am now at the stage where I want to work on some inlays...

The materials I want to use are pine veneer on rosewood, and believe it or not, flatwound gold-coloured wire to outline.

Apart from needing very sharp tools and a lot of patience, has anyone ever incorporated metal into wood as part of an inlay, and would CA glue be strong enough as an adhiesive? (I would like to source some real gold wire, but I am not having much luck at the moment..)

Cheers.

Sam, Google Lapidary Supply and you will find all sorts of sources for gold wire. As to glue, read teh lable. I know that some superglues are rated to bond metal to wood and some aren't. Sorry if thats too vague.

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Joe Breault
Merrimack, NH
Perpetual novice

Keep in mind, if you are using the pine or any soft wood on a neck inlay you are opening yourself up problems in the near future in terms of wear and staining. The rosewood will be ok on a neck but if you want to use a softer wood than rosewood you need to use a wood that has been impregnated with an acrylic to harden it and make it impregnable by oils and dirt. One of our members provides this material but at the moment I forget who.

As far as the wire, look at jewelers supply companies, many variaties. thickness and metals are available.

Try to keep them all relatively hard. Plastics are often soft, but pine is way too soft. It will sand down faster than what you are putting it in, creating dips if you are not careful. CA will hold almost anything together once it's installed, it doesn't hold black or gold shell together too well when piecing things together. Epoxy is beter for that.

Good luck.
Craig Lavin
www.handcraftinlay.com

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www.handcraftinlay.com

Check out Thunderbird - I've used them for silver wire and gotten good results.

http://www.thunderbirdsupply.com/

I inlaid silver wire along the binding on the sides of the last guitar, and glued it using epoxy - so far it seems to have worked drfuzz38925.4932175926

[QUOTE=MichaelP] if you want to use a softer wood than rosewood you need to use a wood that has been impregnated with an acrylic to harden it and make it impregnable by oils and dirt. One of our members provides this material but at the moment I forget who.
[/QUOTE]

Larry at Gallery Hardwoods carries this.