Wood inlays are a form of art, and routers can turn the average woodworker into an artist. Adding a decorative edge profile to a panel is a beautiful thing.
Yet, creating inlays can still be one of those skills that seem far out of our comfort zone. But it doesn’t have to be that way! Here are a few tips to help you produce a smooth, crisp, and attractive profile:
Use the Routing Table
Assuming the size of the panel allows it, rout the edge profiles on the router table, which will support the weight of the panel.
Use the Fence
If your fence and the edges of the panel are straight, the fence will provide a long, stable guide surface that is independent of the spinning bit. Note that the surface of the fence should be smooth enough to generate minimal friction.
Make multiple passes
Unless you’re making a very small profile, make multiple, light passes. Between cuts, you can either move the fence back or raise the height of the bit. Moving the fence tends to be more natural. This will leave a smoother surface, and minimize chipping. It’s also much easier on your hands, the bit, and the router. The final pass should be very light, in order to remove fine shavings.
Find the “Goldilocks” feed rate
If you move the panel too fast, you can get a rough cut or chipping. If you go too slow, you will burn the edge. Tricky … especially if you vary the speed as you feed the wood. Fortunately, making multiple passes helps here, too. Use the first pass or two to find the feed that minimizes chipping out and burning, then stay with that consistency.
Get consistent depth with a Featherboard
A featherboard (like this random one) will help ensure the profile is cut to a uniform depth. This can be a challenge, especially at the corners. I’ve noticed this, particularly with longer panels, with the culprit being the inconsistent downward pressure when feeding the panel thru the bit.
5 COMMENTS
Comments are closed.
This blog Easy & beautiful inlays with a wood router: 5 tips
to perfect edge profiles helps me a lot with my woodworking projects.
I also use amazing woodworking plans from here:
https://s96.me/woodworking-plans (or clik on name) 😉 Kiss you
all!
I would like to convey my affection for your generosity for persons that really want guidance on this important area of interest. Your real commitment to passing the solution all through had been rather functional and has encouraged employees like me to realize their objectives. Your amazing insightful useful information indicates so much a person like me and substantially more to my fellow workers. Best wishes; from all of us.
I simply wanted to type a note to appreciate you for the fantastic guidelines you are placing on this site. My long internet search has at the end been rewarded with good quality content to talk about with my co-workers. I ‘d assert that most of us site visitors are really lucky to exist in a very good website with so many outstanding people with useful tricks. I feel truly privileged to have discovered your entire site and look forward to plenty of more enjoyable times reading here. Thank you again for everything.
My spouse and i ended up being now relieved Albert managed to complete his preliminary research out of the precious recommendations he came across in your weblog. It’s not at all simplistic to just continually be making a gift of key points many people could have been trying to sell. Therefore we consider we now have the blog owner to appreciate because of that. Most of the illustrations you have made, the straightforward site navigation, the relationships you aid to create – it’s all exceptional, and it’s really aiding our son and our family reason why that topic is thrilling, which is rather indispensable. Many thanks for all!