Alternative Inlay Material

[nm7714]

I was thinking of trying some inlaying, on a budget. and i mean a BUDGET! I was thinking, could i use a two part epoxy resin with a colouring ingredient?

like a metallic paint mixed in when the resin is almost set, to give a swirl or non-solid finish? when it's dry and a few mm thick, i recon it may be ok to be cut/filed to a design shape.

any thoughts? or anyone tried it?

Neil

[low end fuzz]

if you used wood, it would cost less than the epoxy

[nm7714]

True, but i dont really want a wood inlay. i dont like them all that much.

[HuntinDoug]

True, but i dont really want a wood inlay. i dont like them all that much.

You may want to look into "pearlessence". It's low cost, 100% acrylic, and comes in several colors. It works & sands really nice, and has a nice swirl to it. I'm not sure where you can get it in the UK. Here are a couple Jackson "J's" I inlaid in a piece of ebony as a sample:

Cost in my area of the USA is $10 for a 5in x 9in piece, or $25 for a 12in x 24in piece. Hope it helps.

[Batfink]

if you're really intent on spending no money just look around the house - you can inlay just about anything, we're only talking really about making a hole in one material to put another material in to it....i'm presuming you've got a Dremel or something to hog out your cavity, or at the very least a small SHARP chisel ? Old jewellery, plastic containers, odd bits of metal could all be used in some way or other - how they look and how they last is another matter. Remember, a jewellers saw can be had for less than a tenner and an ounce of M.O.P can be had for less than twenty quid so it's not that expensive to try it properly.

Jem

[biliousfrog]

As Batfink said, the "proper" stuff isn't very expensive anyway but there was a thread recently on using CA glue & baking soda to create a marble type effect.

[Maiden69]

http://www.turtlefeathers.com/text/inlace/inlace-main.html

this is close to what you are asking.

[Acousticraft]

I just rout a hole or slot so the inlay sits below the finished level, glue the inlay in with a dab of super glue or contact to stop it floating up, and use a clear craft epoxy to pour over the top.

I then leave it for about 4/5 days to cure and carefully file off the excess and then sand it down to the finished level and polish with 0000 steel wool which removes any fine sanding sratches.

With this method you dont need colour as the edges are invisible from the colour showing from underneath the epoxy. As long as you can fit it in the physical space then nearly anything can be inlaid. Ive even used cheap jewellery and Ive seen insects inlaid into tables and that looked impressive too. You do need the clear epoxy resin as some are quite amber coloured.

[nm7714]

Thanks guys