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I'm inlaying my name in gold MOP in a dark, EIT veneer for the headstock. I routed it out the recess for the inlay yesterday using a die grinder I bought from John Hall. I can do the routing fairly well for a newbie. Where I had my most problems was keeping the inlay stationary while tracing around it. So the fit isn't perfect but not that bad for a rookie.

I was planning on using clear CA to glue in the inlay but since I have a couple small gaps, would a dark glue look better? Maybe I should I fill the small gaps with rosewood dust the use thin CA?........or would this look worse? Not sure how well you can see the inlay in this pic but here is what it lookslike before sanding.

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

Darrel,

Good looking inlay.

I learned this the hard way. I get best results by mixing dust from the wood with epoxy, filling the cavity and then inserting the inlay and pushing the excess epoxy out.

Steve

Here is a pic where you can see the gaps a little better.

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

Yup... Wood dust & epoxy. I find I get finer dust if I sand it off the end grain.
On a dark wood, like Gabon ebony, I mix black Tempra paint powder with the epoxy.

Check out this video. I think it may be what you are looking for . http://www.youtube.com/results?search_q ... inlay&aq=f this will take you to a number of videos. I do not use the epoxy but this technique works well.
If you do have large gaps , they are most difficult to hide. Smaller voids will hide well enough.

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

i'll glue the inlay on the peg head with some small dabs of lmi glue let it dry then scribe it. then take a match to heat the shell and work a razor under it and it pops right of.

brent

John, the CA and black marker trick works nice with ebony. How well does it work with rosewood (at hiding small gaps)? Right now I'm leaning toward the rosewood dust and epoxy.

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

If you are going to use glue then use a dab duco not CA. You might try and photocopy that inlay the next time and tape it in place and trace it with a x-acto knife cutting through the paper and then do the chaulk dust trick or route through the paper. I just did that with a Gibson logo inlay. But that black background makes it easy to hide any gaps. I'd set that with CA and then fill the holes and gaps with wood dust and pack the dust in and CA. You should have tried to have left the inside of letter wood in if using rosewood, ebony or black would have been different but the rosewood dust is going to look dark brown. You also should have used the lift and plunge method with that. And I'll say it again, buy the Larry Robinson DVD's if you are going to be doing inlay.
Just a note on spraying accelerator over engraved pieces filled with Laskin's filler, don't it will remove the filler.

I use brown Magic marker for the rosewood .

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

I tested and tried John's CA method and used brown and a little purple permanent markers. There is a little glare from the flash but hopefully you can see a little detail. Here is what it looks like after glueing and a quick sanding.

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

Darryl,
Although it`s kinda hard for me to quite see the details in your pic, it looks to me like the cutting bit is grabbing a little bit on the workpiece, and veering off the intended path. I`ve had this happen on quite a few things. One way I know helps (might not be the total answer) is to chuck the bit up into the collett as far as possible without getting it stuck when it comes time for removal.
Your rig looks to me as though there might be quite a bit of flex in it overall. The flex in the long adjustment screws could be throwing the quill`s 90 degree attitude to the workpiece out of whack just enough to mess you up. That`s what I think I see at the bottom of the Y and G.
Perhaps a couple guide pins running from the base through the mount would help.
I use a Dremel myself, but have run into similar problems as you`re having. I`m seriously considering removing the rubber mounting bushings and replacing with brass. Vibration is the consideration there, though.
Coe Franklin

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Give me 50 cents worth of regular.
Check my oil too, if you don`t mind,,,

I won't touch a dremel anymore , I use air die grinders , they are faster and better built but they do take a lot of air to run. I think the inlay looks just fine and once you get the filling in you will see that is about as good as anyone will do. Your work does look good. I do agree with Chris , if you are doing engraved pearl you need to use another glue than CA.

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

John it's not the CA but the accelerator that will desolve the engraving filler. I had to refill the engraving on the banner inlay in the head stock in the picture. The CA had no effect on the filler as the banner is covered with CA. I usually just trace the edges of the inlay with black marker and CA around it and the CA picks up the color for the small spaces and will also do that between 2 pieces of shell if I want a line to be seen. Larger gaps I'll dust fill. I tried your trick on the banner edge an the acc. removed the filler. Just thought I'd let others know about it if they are going to use pre engraved inlays.

Darryl,
It looks like you've stained the whole piece darker, or is that the photography?

It's the difference in lighting. The "before" photo was taken without flash and the "after" photo with flash. Also, in the "before" photo ther was an extra, 100W bulb I was using to light the wood to see the line better. It gave a yellowish cast to the photo that isn't in the second photo. The second photo had two, 2ft long Chroma 50 florescent bulbs lighting the wood plus the flash. I'm thinking the flash added the glare.

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......