inlays and filling the mistakes

[jarfly]

So I have not yet touched the fretboard on my build, but after seeing the trouble my Dad's build is going through I wonder- is everybody super precise at routing/ carving out the hole the inlay goes in or what? Any tips when scribing around a piece of shell when its sitting on a radiused surface?
I see some popular inlay artist don't even like working on anything but ebony. I wonder if that would help a beginner too, as the dust probably matches alot better. As it is now with a Pau Ferro fingerboard, I can only hope that when it's oiled that the sawdust filler glue mixture hides the mistakes much better.
Or maybe I just won't attempt an inlay there.

Thanks!

[SteveS]

Many only do inlays on ebony. If you don't like what you see, switch to ebony. Figured woods and inlay are best left to those with great skill.

[jarfly]

Thanks Steve
My mom has a house in Menifee. I went down to visit a friend in CA and stayed at her place last October. Bought my Halloween costume in Temecula. Nice city

[Brackett Instruments]

First, you do need to be really precise when cutting out for the inlays.
Second, forget the dust. It will look like a halo around the inlay. Find a sharpie (marker) that matches the wood. It's very important for the inlay to be a little proud of the piece you're putting it in. Put the inlay in the channel. Mark the top if it with a sharpie that matched the wood. Spray it with CA accelerator, and let the accelerator dry. Then flood it with thin CA. The pigment from the sharpie will flow into the area around the inlay, and color it to match. This is how the slots are filled in on slotted diamond inlays. This slotted diamond, done by my Wife a couple years ago on a guitar I built fit good, but the tiny slots were filled with this method. Obviously Ebony is easiest, it's harder to match other woods.


Mark the channel with a mechanical pencil, with the thinnest lead available. You can use the eraser end of a pencil to hold the inlay while marking. You should be able to roll the inlay along the radiused board while marking. Cut to the inside of the mark. Don't try to cut a long straight line, or an entire square/diamond. Pierce small holes along the line and at the corners first, like sewing with a needle, the connect the dots. Like most things luthirie related, patience is the key.

[harvl]

All good advice. Only things I might add are: I like to sometimes glue the inlay to the eraser with a tiny drop of CA, that way it doesn't move. Afterwards you can carefully slice the inlay off with a sharp Exacto knife. I also like to trace around the inlay with a mechanical pencil (if you do some looking at Staples you can find ones with .3 mm lead) but afterwards I scribe the lines with a very sharp Exacto, then rub white chalk over the cuts and they will fill with chalk leaving a nice white line to go by. Best of all, as you rout up to the lines the chalk will disappear. This is especially helpful on ebony. Be sure to test the Sharpie first, some colors will change color when hit with CA (for instance yellow turns a beautiful blood red.)

[jarfly]

thanks guys., I had given up on it for a while and was just going to stick with my plain Pau Ferro. I gave it a go and it turned out pretty decent for my first time. Yup, used chalk and a very sharp scribe. I don't think there's a sharpie for the color of this wood though so I did use dust where needed. Turned out fine Pics in my build thread when I go up to glue the fretboard onto the neck tonight!