Shopsmith Forums

hey guys - I've worked myself into a corner maybe :_)

I'm putting some walnut inlay into a board which happens to be a veneered plywood.

The inlays stick up proud of the surface and I want to have them flat with the veneer surface.

I'm concerned that if I go to sanding I will accidently remove the veneer.

besides going slow sanding, any other ideas ? Perhaps I could double stick tape them all to a board and run them thru the planer to thin them more?


You can see in the photo I managed to make the inlay flat with the veneer surface in the other direction (across the image) but this was done with
the box planer...and the board is too wide to send thru the planer in this new direction .

The inlays aren't attached yet to the board- they are flimsy - about 1/8" square.

I do have a hand held electric planer- perhaps that would be better than sanding?


I'm mostly interested in not damaging the ply veneer.


b

What about making a narrow version of the top for doing say a half dozen at a time then run that through your planner. No damage to the real piece and it should be too much work to make??

Ed

If the strips aren't glued in yet, could you cut (or route) the grooves deeper?

With or without deeper grooves, after strips are glued in a combination of small block plane, scraper, and sanding would be my choice.

For the scraper, something with a convex edge to lessen the chance of gouging the plywood veneer.

Can i rotate the board to some angle such that it fits thru the box planer? ...like this poor drawing tries to show?

What are the dimensions? Have you calculated that angle? Are the inlays already glued? (If not I liked reible's idea.)

Drum sander - but that's not a typical home shop tool. Maybe a conical disc would work, but dimensions come into it.

I think a router would work.(?) Cut them very slightly proud and then RO sand them to final. The PowerPro could do this as an overhead router depending on the dimensions. Or if you have an overhead/overarm router that's probably better and would support larger dimensions. For a handheld I liked this jig Nick presents, he calls it a 'router plane' but that terminology was already taken, so maybe it is in jest. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BS5PGsgxuQo You could do a simpler mod to a router plate, the main advantage to his is near the edges of the workpiece.

- David

Thanks everyone - I'm gonna go stare at it and then try something

b

I think the overhead router is the one that will work best for this. Looking at my router table, hand router, hand planer etc all left me thinking that the tool shouldnt be resting on the inlay surface itself-as this becomes a questionable surface as the cutting begins.

The cutting head distance above the baord needs to be registered to backside of the board, rather than the front side. The backside of the board wont be changed-so provides a solid reference.

I still think that if I shave these down close enough and take baby steps- I may be able to feed the board thru the box planer at an angle for final surface.

Someone asked the dimensions of the board - it is 10" by 15" , I think my planer is 13 or 14" wide.

b

I'd start with a block plane to cut those strips down much closer to the plywood. Then sanding to get close enough to use the planer.

yea- I dont have many hand tools - including planes

Here is the result after overhead routing on the SS to reduce the inlay height, then going thru the planer at an angle.
Thanks for the guidance everyone !

b

That came out really nice! I am impressed that there is no damage to the veneer. How did you control the depth of cut while routing?