Inlay ideas?

[Timmy!]

Jeff, just thinking here, and it may not be right, but couldn't you lay out the bamboo for the entire board and then take your inlay piece and trace it onto the board and then cut that area out of your large piece? Then sand to fit? Is that how you did that one?

[NICKYPOO]

Jeff, just thinking here, and it may not be right, but couldn't you lay out the bamboo for the entire board and then take your inlay piece and trace it onto the board and then cut that area out of your large piece? Then sand to fit? Is that how you did that one?

That is a bitch to do cleanly. A true inlay really takes a lot of knowledge, skill and tools. It seems fairly basic but, when your working with veneer, it has a tendency to break every time you touch it. I never liked working with it. I always found it easier to work with actual hardwood. Unfortunately, that won't work for a surfboard.

Just for the hell of it, a couple pics of a table I built many moons ago. There's no stain on it whatsoever. It's red oak with purpleheart inlay. The purpleheart is really cool stuff. The sawdust is highly toxic so you need a respirator when sanding it. It also changes color very fast once sanded. You have to have your sealer ready to spray once it gets to the desired darkness. Once sealed, it stabilizes. I was trying to match the couch. Got kinda close. It's now just in the kid's playroom but, it proved to be pretty tough.

[Surfdad]

No thumb jokes! Like Nick pointed out, the Walnut split down the grain just from unrolling it from the box it was shipped it. It was NOT fun to work with.

@ Timmy! I think I did just what you described. I cut the ^ shape on the bamboo and then traced that onto the walnut, then cut that with a razor blade.

I'd love to do the inlay like Nick shows on that table. Some sort of geometric pattern with the grain offset like that, would really change the look of the 'boo from that pergo flooring to something that stands out.