Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi
Newbie again. I am going to route some inlays and I have some questions.
Craigs inlay class above doesn't go this far yet.
What are the tricks to routing out small inlays etc. Initials etc
Do most people just scribe around, chaulk the line and then route? Do any
mark the edges with a pencil or something else???
Anyone use a pin router with a template???
What bits do you use?

Sorry for the number of questions
Andy the Newbie

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Andy Z.
http://www.lazydogguitars.com

I've taken my logo and printed it on paper then glued it down to the face of where I want to route, then rout out the shape.
You'll want to make sure your printed size is accurate.

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

Lance, I tried doing it the way you mentioned. I had a lot of trouble with the edges fuzzing up and making it hard to see where the lines were.

Do you have a trick to prevent that? I was thinking of just going over the lines with a x-acto knife before starting the routing.

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Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

I first tack the inlay to the surface with a little drop of Duco. Wait a couple hours for it to dry. Scribe around with an X-acto knife. Gently pry the inlay off the surface with the X-acto. Chalk. Then I route using small downcut bits I purchased from Stew-Mac. http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Dremel_rotary_tools,_attac hments/Carbide_Downcut_Inlay_Router_Bits.html

Good luck!

I do mine exactly like Kelby, only I use double-stick tape to stick it down. I use double stick tape for a lot of things, if you get the right kind (I use golf-grip tape) you'd be amazed at how strong it is.

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Jimmy Caldwell
http://www.caldwellguitars.com

I have made the most wonderful tool for marking around inlays! I stick down the cut inlay with duco(edges sanded smooth) and scribe around it with a needle stolen from my wifes sewing machine mounted in the end of a short piece of dowel rod for a handle. The needle has enough spring in it to allow you to maintain good pressure along the sides of the inlay but not enough to push it out of position. And it does not wander with the grain like an exacto. A light dusting with chalk or powder and I have a perfect outline. Now if I could just cut it as perfectly as it`s marked I`d be in good shape!

[QUOTE=Kelby] I first tack the inlay to the surface with a little drop of Duco. Wait a couple hours for it to dry. Scribe around with an X-acto knife. Gently pry the inlay off the surface with the X-acto. Chalk. Then I route using small downcut bits I purchased from Stew-Mac.   http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools /Dremel_rotary_tools,_attac hments/Carbide_Downcut_Inlay_Router_Bits.html

Good luck![/QUOTE]

I do the same thing, but before I pry it up, I put a couple of drops of acetone on it. It softens up the duco.

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

For insetting into ebony I used to place the inlay down with model airplane cement, scribe with an exacto knife, and then use the chalk method.

I now do the same up to the end, but I try to get away from the chalk line. Now I normally tack-glue, then scribe, remove the inlay, then carefully go over the first scribe with my exacto knife or scribe again, and then rout to the clean scribed line, enhanced by the lighing and thrown into contrast. It's a cleaner way of doing it. I was finding that the chalk was way to "dirty and fuzzy" to get small areas routed clean. Even with acetone removing the glue, it still left me wanting. I know it sounds crazy, but the plain scribed line is noramally very clear in ebony, and the chalk only blurred the image to me. I still use chalk sometimes, but not on intricate areas.

For maple, where the rout needs to be extremely clean/tight, I glue the inlay all face down, then go take it to a photo copy store. I make a photo copy face down, until I get a good solid black image, make a few copies, I then take that image, and use 3M spray tack glue to glue the paper image in place. I then cut out the exact image with an exacto knife, pull out the inlay image piece, then scribe around the inside border twice (just in case the paper peels off) then use the Stew Mac downcut bits to rout to the paper/scribed edge.


Sorry the class is going so slow. This is what would have been talked about anyway.
Good luck,

Craig lavin

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www.handcraftinlay.com