Inlaying large wood pieces *LINK*

Re: Inlaying large wood pieces *LINK*

Paul Woolson

this is the pattern that I'd like to inlay. The grey in the image will be the barrel wood and the white will be plywood.

Does anyone have a good way of doing this and getting a flat surface in the end? I'm thinking bar topper epoxy is my only real way of doing so but would love to hear any other ideas.


Board layout

Re: Inlaying large wood pieces

Keith Newton

My advice is to forget about mixing plywood with this, but rather just mask and sandblast the pattern onto what you already have. Then you don't have the problems of the path your are considering. You could also come back with a lighter stain or wash to get even more contrast, and give it another look.

Re: Inlaying large wood pieces

Ellis Walentine

Interesting puzzle, Paul. There are more variables here than you might expect, due to the possibilities of wood movement. I'm not clear on the finished result you want. Do you want to keep the aged, scalloped surface of the staves but finish over them with something that will give you a flat surface all the way across the board? If so, you'd be looking for some kind of pourable epoxy that would hold up to, or inhibit, wood movement sufficiently.

As for the inlaying part, how thick are the staves? Could you actually sink them flush with the surface of the plywood without coming through the other side?

Ellis

Re: Inlaying large wood pieces

walta

I would run the wood over a jointer and flatten the bottoms. Then turn the board 90° with the flat side against the fence joint one edge of each board. Then with the table saw rip the other edge parallel. Using the bottom as a reference cut biscuit slots in the edges and glue up your panels.

Walta

Re: Inlaying large wood pieces

Mark

Ive made and played a few times with these Corn Hole board games at the cottage.

I would not be worried about the inlayed barrel staves being Dead flat with the plywood surround? I don't think the curvature of the staves is going to interfere with the playability of the game at all. If you finish the entire top, the bean bags will still be able to slide into the hole and/or bounce off the top just as easily.

Obviously your intention is to bring your pals love of whiskey into the design of the boards so i’d go for it trying to keep the top of the stave assembly as level with the plywood surround as possible. But I wouldnt obsess.

For wood movement you could rabbet the underside of the Left and Right edge of assembled stave triangle, and Top edge of plywood V where the stave will meet allowing for maybe 1/8 x 3/16 expansion and contraction.

I think your buddy will care more about having the barrel staves incorporated into the Game boards vs whether they’re dead flat . Good Luck with the Project!

Re: Inlaying large wood pieces

paul woolson

I've done all of your steps previous to posing this question. Additionally, I resawed them to 1/4" (at the tall point) and used the "clean" wood for other projects.

Re: Inlaying large wood pieces

paul woolson

Yes, I resawed them to 1/4" thick (at the tall point) so they could inlay into the plywood nicely. I do find it very challenging to remove 1/4" of thickness from such a large area without the router tipping, etc.

I think some bar-topper epoxy is the way to go to get everything flat.

Can't wait to see the pictures