BUTTERFLY BOX CHRISTMAS 001

Back from our holiday/trip, we had a great time and I got to see a lot of amazing woodwork, Art, and nature along the way. When I find sometime I do a couple of special posts to share with you.

I arrived home on Friday to the sad news of the death of a dear aunt and haven't had much time in the workshop.

A couple of simple projects for Christmas, I'm going to make two boxes that are nearly the same.

These are to say thank you to a young man, who has without even knowing us, done us a great favor, the boxes are actually for his two young daughters. 

I also hope this small project will serve as a basic instruction on the main process, I use when doing marquetry. The pattern is a simple light butterfly on a dark background, with the design in the wings being the same as the background. Very simple and basic but a good exercise for anyone interested in trying marquetry for the first time to try. Today I'll just be making a test panel, so I can iron out any problems before starting the final project.

First select a piece of veneer for the background. 

Select a piece of veneer in a lighter colour for the butterfly. I'm using a piece of Camper laurel with some interesting colour and pattern this is the same timber I used for the water in the lighthouse Marquetry.

First I cover the background veneer in masking tape.

Measure and mark the center points.

Cut out measure and mark the center points of the pattern.

Glue the pattern to the front of the background veneer, ensuring the pattern is in the center.

Select the first section to be inlaid and workout the direction the grain is to go.

With the veneer for the butterfly attached to the back, and the grain running in the right direction, drill a pilot hole for the scroll saw blade.

Set the scroll saw table to an angle of 6 degrees (this is not an exact setting as it is dependent on the thickness of the veneer and the thickness of the blade) trial and error will work out the best setting.

Cut around the selected area in a clockwise direction.

Remove the top piece of veneer with the pattern on it and place in a safe place to be used later.

Remove from the scroll saw and clean the edges.

Spread glue around the edges of the cutout area.

Position the inlay piece into the veneer.

Using a small chisel press down around the edges of the inlay so the front of the work is flush.

Using a small router clean off and level the back of the inlay piece, This can also be done with a scraper and sandpaper.

To allow the router to move over the whole piece I've cut a hole in a piece of three ply to give some clearance.

That's all I have time for today, 
Thanks for visiting my blog.