Inlay Thickness

[westhemann]

I ordered some recon stone from masecraft a while back.very good quality stuff,but the thinnest it is available is 1/8"...it came at closer to 3/16" thick,so I have a bit of a dilemma.I have been resawing it in 1/2 with some success,but the scroll saw tends to wander,and once down to thinner stock it is more brittle obviously,so I have to ask.

What is the proper thickness for inlays?I was thinking 1/16" is more than thick enough,and 3/16" is way too thick,so I guess the real question is what is the thinnest you would dare use and what is the thickest?

With block inlays(think Gibson) it seems if I rout out more than 1/16" in thickness on the board I would be weakening the board?

I don't usually do inlays...actually this will be my first block inlay,and my first that was not precut.

[low end fuzz]

i try to route the fingerboard to somewhere like 1/16 or a lil more depending on what ive planned for the radius; but when its material whos thickness hasnt been pre-determined for me, like wood or plastic i try to keep it thick; like an 1/8 so its not brittle and leave it proud so it can be run under the thickness sander after its secured in epoxy;

not normal procedure, but i like it!

[soapbarstrat]

I would probably shoot for the standard .050" thickness or slightly more. In your situation, I might try a diamond cut-off disc in the Dremel router (upside down, like a mini router table). Then a groove could be cut all around at an even depth. I Would go as far as possible with that, and maybe finish up with one of these diamond coated coping saw blades I have, which look like a diamond coated piece of wire.

Just throwing ideas out there. Everything I wrote above could be a total bust in the real world.

[cSuttle]

You have discoved the flaw of recon stone. When it's thin, it brakes. You need to leave it thick. I generally route to .1" if I'm using recon. This will hold up to even the most severe rads. Don't worry about weaking the board, when the recon is glued in it will make the board even stronger than it was not inlaid at all. Recon is brittle to flexing, but strong to pressure. Sort of like ebony wood.

This will leave a lot of material sticky up from the board after the inlay. I normally hit the stone with a dremel sanding drum to get it close to the board and then use a rad. block to take it down the rest of the way.

I love recon and use it all the time. But, I did have a similar experience to yours when I first started using it. Wasted a couple of block of recon in the process.