Inlay Technique

[MP63]

I remember reading John Catto writing about using supeglue for inlaying.

I used to do the epoxy method with fingerboard wood dust (for color matching) and then push the inlay down into the cavity.

Worked good.

After readin John's article (where?) I think I recall him saying that he super glued the inlay first into the cavity, then applied wood dust to the gap and poured superglue to the dust.

Once dry, it sanded smooth and beautifully.

I tried it on a space in the inlay and it was absolutely the best matching job for inaly.

Does anyone have a better way?

I'm not sure if the inlay was glued to the cavity with super glue also.

Thanks,

Mike

[cSuttle]

I vote for epoxy personally. I've done probably more inlays then anybody on the board and this has always worked for me. Of course I have very, very thin gaps on my inlays if any gapping at all, so that could make the difference. I really don't worry about matching that much since there is so little to match.

However, I would think that the epoxy would also be stronger since superglue is not really recommended for glueing wood. You need an adhesive that soak into the wood to really be strong.

Just my opinion.

[GregP]

I have probably inlayed the least of anyone on this board who have actually tried inlay (ie. obviously I've done more than someone who's NEVER done it) and my research led me to superglue. I haven't tried epoxy by way of comparison.

Superglue isn't recommended for wood because of the usual application-- a fairly small drop to bond 2 surfaces. This isn't the way it's used for inlay, so the results are different. It worked really well for me, but cSuttle has an important point regarding gaps-- if you have none, epoxy might be worth looking into. I had some noticeable gaps, and the superglue filled them in nicely and produced a pretty good look.

Greg

[Mattia]

I thought folks like Grit Laskin used Superglue?

Either way, I've used both, and I prefer the superglue to the epoxy. Less messy.

[MP63]

I have always epoxied as I freehand all routing with the comfort of knowing it'll hide the gaps fairly well with the epoxy. With the last inlay I did, there were small gaps left where the epoxy didn't fill and I used the wood dust and super glue method. The gap was invisible...perfect.

What I thought of doing was, glue it in with epoxy and fill the final amount with wood dust and dropping super glue onto the dust. That gave the cleanest lines on my previous inlay.

Thanks for the help guys.

Mike

[Setch]

I've been using epoxy, because somebody (I think it was Amy. H) on the MIMF mentioned that CA will take a higher shine than wood when you fine sand and polish your fretboard, where as epoxy will blend in fairly well. Several others agreed in the discussion, so I took it more or less as gospel.

[Prostheta]

Would CA-bound wood dust not shine up as well as pure CA when polishing? I'm sure it would be fairly matt compared to cutting back pure CA filler.

[erikbojerik]

CA has a very large "shrink factor" when it dries, this is why a little goes a long way in non-porous materials. It will fill gaps if you use enough, but epoxy is better, and it will be better if you over-fill the rout and expell the excess through the gaps.

However, epoxy is much more viscous than CA, so if you want to be sure to have it "wick in" after the fact (say, into a dry gap packed with saw dust) CA is the better choice.

[Prostheta]

I guess that the same as with most things, your mileage with vary eh Erik? I think CA is probably the better option for quick and fairly clean work, whereas epoxy requires more patience and a little more work to achieve what would be overall, a better result.

I'm a little lazy and like to see immediate results, so CA is probably my best friend until I can master patience in order to see better results :-) Same goes for my detail routing which cSuttle has obviously mastered since gap filling isn't an issue there!

[johnsilver]

I've been using epoxy, because somebody (I think it was Amy. H) on the MIMF mentioned that CA will take a higher shine than wood when you fine sand and polish your fretboard

I can attest to this effect. On my current project, I used CA to glue in the MOP. For any gaps, I packed in ebony dust and then wicked in some CA. It works great. However, when I sanded my board up through the grits, I noticed the gaps filled with CA and dust began to shine more, or at least differently, than the rest of the board. Ultimately, I went back down in grit and blended them back in. The board still looks great and is very smooth, but I couldn't sand up as high as I had intended.

Maybe I'll try epoxy next time.

[Prostheta]

Just what I was wondering. I wasn't clear on how pure CA vs. dust bound in PA would shine up. There's the answer!

I hate mixing epoxy :-(

[Thorn]

CA on most everything I inlay. The only time I use clear epoxy (amber actually) is on maple fretboards to avoid ghosting around the inlay. I'm not taking about gaps, I'm talking about the CA wicking into the endgrain and darkening the maple around the inlay, leaving a slightly darker ghost around the inlay once leveled. The thicker epoxy doesn't wick as deep.

On a side note, at an inlay seminar put on by Larry Robinson about 15 years ago, he had an inlay sample that had been in a fire. It was a large piece of rosewood with a hummingbird inlaid into it. The sides of the rosewood were all blackened and charred...yet the inlay lost only one feather from the heat. This was his proof that CA could hold up to many extremes.

I don't know Cliff...I've inlaid over 30,000 blocks of pearl and pearloid into Fender Custom Shop bass necks alone...I think I've got you beat

Ron Thorn

[cSuttle]

I don't know Cliff...I've inlaid over 30,000 blocks of pearl and pearloid into Fender Custom Shop bass necks alone...I think I've got you beat

Yep, sounds like it. Ok, excluding you. Larry is not on this form is he? Better yet, amend my first comment to include the word "Most", since I'm not sure who else may be on this forum. Probably what I should have said in the first place. For all I know the Duke of Pearl himself might be a member.

Edited September 3, 2006 by cSuttle

[MP63]

Thanks for all the help and advice.

It was a headstock inlay I was inquiring about.

It will have a finish, so that might change the opinion of techniques.

It seems the best combo was Superglue for finished wood and epoxy for unfinished fingerboards.

Thanks again to all.

Mike