Each of the knife blocks gets a quarter circle bloodwood inlay on each side where the ends of the side pieces come together. On the prototype I made a jig to use a 2” forstner bit to cut an 1/8” deep recess for the inlay but the client wanted the inlay bigger so I bought a 3” forstner bit for the production blocks. The jig works great and drilling the 1/8” recesses went very well.
Just a matter of loading the side piece into the jig, clamping in place and drilling down to a pre-set depth on the drill press.
When I did the prototype I marked out a circle on the bloodwood , then cut it out on the scrollsaw, then sanded the edges until I got it to fit properly. Very time consuming process. I had to devise a jig to cut 50 inlays exactly the right size in less than a minute each. The jig that I made started out by using the 3” forstner bit to drill a hole through a piece of 1/8” plywood. Glued this to a scrap piece of 3/8” plywood that clamps to the scroll saw table. Cut 3” disc from 3/8 plywood and sand until it rotated smoothly in the 3” hole. Cut a 1/4 circle section from the disc, thin down to about 1/8” and superglue back in place. Add a piece of 60 grit sandpaper to help hold the inlay stock in place, dremal a couple of finger slots—ready to go.
It took a bit of trial and error to get the correct radius but once I got it dialed in, I could cut perfect inlays every time.
Perfect inlays in less than a minute each. Mission accomplished!!!.
Next segment—-more sections to glue up—having fun now!!!
Just a matter of loading the side piece into the jig, clamping in place and drilling down to a pre-set depth on the drill press.
When I did the prototype I marked out a circle on the bloodwood , then cut it out on the scrollsaw, then sanded the edges until I got it to fit properly. Very time consuming process. I had to devise a jig to cut 50 inlays exactly the right size in less than a minute each. The jig that I made started out by using the 3” forstner bit to drill a hole through a piece of 1/8” plywood. Glued this to a scrap piece of 3/8” plywood that clamps to the scroll saw table. Cut 3” disc from 3/8 plywood and sand until it rotated smoothly in the 3” hole. Cut a 1/4 circle section from the disc, thin down to about 1/8” and superglue back in place. Add a piece of 60 grit sandpaper to help hold the inlay stock in place, dremal a couple of finger slots—ready to go.
It took a bit of trial and error to get the correct radius but once I got it dialed in, I could cut perfect inlays every time.
Perfect inlays in less than a minute each. Mission accomplished!!!.
Next segment—-more sections to glue up—having fun now!!!
