Multi-layered Plaque
Step 1, Select 3 or 4 contrasting colored woods. I like Black Walnut, White Maple, Red Oak, Satinwood/Yellow-heart, and Purpleheart, but the latter two require UV protection.
Step 2, Decide how big a board you need to hold the lettering you want plus a little bit extra.
Step 3, Sand both front and back of the board and use a caliper to know how thick you start with.
Step 4, Carve out a pocket, on the front side, the size of the entire inlay area, ¼” deep with a large straight-bit like 1/4”, to save time. Sand the pocket to get it as even as possible. And then offset it so that it carves to the inside of the bit. Save this pocket as a pattern.
Step 5, Flip the offset of the pattern so that you carve on the outside [minus .007” to make the easier to insert] , and then, using double-sided tape, carve the inlay, [1/8” thick pieces of contrasting wood], and glue all three layers together using tight-bond II glue and waxed paper between the wooden sandwich and a strong and flat board to hold the clamps.
Step 6, Let it dry for two or more days before taking the clamps off, and another day or two for the glue to dry completely.
Step 7, Using a thickness sander, like my Jet 16-32 drum sander, resurface the front side taking off as little as possible, and take a caliper reading of the thickness noting the new distance to the pocket bottom.
Step 8, Determine the NEW “depth of carve” to reach just below the glue-line of the bottom-most inlayer of wood (new pocket depth after sanding), set the depth .007” beyond that number you come up with so that you carve away the glue. You could use a fourth or more wood in each layer to spice it up even further if wanted, like using satin-wood for the birthdate date and death dates on the ends of the pocket with the name in the center area.
Step 9, Set your depths to carve so that the different words and dates stay within the thicknesses of each layer of wood with different fonts. Save this as another pattern and carve it.
Step 10, On the back, write my poem in Black-Chancery font. I like to carve the lettering with a 60-degree bit and fill them with contrasting colored sawdust and super glue, but the poem is too long for it to be done that way perhaps. Drill holes in the back for some of my ashes.
Step 11, Also on the back, drill two keyholes, centered 16” apart, to hang them with near the top. Be careful of the depth.
Step 12, Sand and finish with an appropriate product.
I would like four-five of these made {wife, three daughters, and a step-daughter}. I have the 16-32” drum sander with in & out tables, several grit papers, and cart, or my 1.5HP dust collector to trade if possible. Each are in excellent condition. I also have a cart with lockable wheels and a 12” sanding plate and a cast-iron table with a slot for a miter gauge on one end of the cart, and a mortice-machine with drills and morticing-chisels on the other end that I made with 1” square tubing [1/8” walls thick].
DocWheeler
Ken,
V-1, 2, & 3
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