Official Luthiers Forum!

For you who incorporate marquetry in your work, how thick are the pieces that you typically inlay? I'm thinking about inlaying some wood on a guitar back, and was wondering how deep one should inset the pieces. Also if inlaying in the back would you inlay while the back is still flat without any bracing? Would you overcoat with epoxy or CA? Thanks for any input.

Thickness isn't particularly important as long as it's thinner than the destination object (the back in this case) and not so thin that you sand through. .04-.06" (1-1.5mm) is typical, but it is possible to use .02" sliced veneers if you're really careful with the pocket depth and sanding. For wood inlays, the thickness of the pieces can be a lot more than the depth of the pockets, since they're easy to chisel/scrape down after gluing in. Shell, I try to get the pocket depth exact, since it's hard to level, and the the patterns on abalone change drastically as you sand/scrape it.

Inlay before bracing.

Not sure about overcoating. Use your own judgement? I use regular wood glues (mainly hide glue) for most inlay work, and thus no coating.

I usually mix wood with recon stone or shell. If my shell is .05 that's what I make my wood inlays.

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Michael F Smith
Goat Rock Ukulele
http://goatrockukulele.com