Shop-Made Inlay Banding

        For a recent box I made, I decided to add some custom inlay banding for ornament around the sides. Inlay, like marquetry, is a decorative veneering technique where a thin pattern is set into a recess in solid wood. To create this banding, I repeatedly glued and cut veneer strips with solid wood to achieve a 'chevron' pattern, somewhat like 2 dimensional origami, but with wood.

        Today, inlay banding can be purchased in most woodworking stores, but is ridiculously expensive due to the exotic materials it uses and the lengthy time it takes to produce. Here is how I made my own banding at my school's shop:
        

History of Inlay Banding       
        
        Although inlay has been around since ancient Egypt, it became quite popular during the 17th and 18th century in Europe and America. In furniture styles like Federal and Sheraton, inlay banding with intricate pattern can often be seen decorating the legs and aprons of tables amongst other kinds of furniture.

        Another type of inlay known as 'stringing' (fine lines of contrasting woods), was also quite common in these styles for creating borders to contrasting veneers, or to just added visual intrigue. In the images below, inlay with both natural motifs and geometric patterns can be seen being used for decoration.

(Left & Right) Federal Style Tables
(Middle) Sheraton Style Table

 Making the Inlay Banding    
   
        I started off making 2 batches of inlay, one using dark veneer strips and another using red colored strips (I believe they are Sapele), both glued to thin pieces of basswood.

Preparing & Gluing the Alternating Basswood and Red Colored Veneer Strips

       I soon abandoned the darker batch because the veneers kept flaking off after gluing to the basswood strips. In the later glue-ups I used significantly more glue than is pictured above, to try to avoid this issue from happening again.

Squaring the Assembly After Drying

        Next, I used a miter gauge set at 45 degrees to cut thin blocks. The idea is that by cutting at 45 degrees and gluing the blocks end to end, they will display a diagonal wood grain / veneer orientation on their sides. Later, I will flip one of the strips and glue them both together to create the chevron pattern of the wood grain / veneers being mirrored.

 

Assembling the 45 degree Cut Parts into 1 Long Strip

        After gluing the blocks end to end, I made a jig to hold the newly formed strips in place as they were passed through the time-saver. I did this to flatten the strips after they shifted slightly during the glue-up. I used some double-sided tape as well to hold them down in the jig. 

Using 2P-10 Adhesive to Glue Back Together Breaks in the Strip

       
        Next, I am gluing the strips in a flipped orientation to one another (to create the chevron pattern), using the red veneer strips between and surrounding them to create a border effect.

Laying Out the Strips / Final Glue Up

        After squaring the assembly I took it over to the bandsaw to cut 3/16" thick strips (using the belt sander to get a clean face between each cut). 

        After bandsawing the strips I made the sides of the box with a groove for the inlay 1/32nd shallower than the thickness of the inlay banding so that I can sand it flush after gluing.

Inserting the Inlay

Nearly Finished Box (Applying Oil & Inserting Hinges Remain)

Finished with Danish Oil Applied

Final Thoughts

        Making the inlay was quite a long process with much troubleshooting involved, but was a good challenge to work through and learn more. I enjoyed combining the different techniques of marquetry and inlay in a single project, and having to think about how they would go together from a design perspective. It's easy to throw something together and call it a day but having to think about why I would choose to do something one way vs another, or having to really plan ahead to make sure the inlay would turn out well, was a good experience for becoming a better, more precise cabinetmaker.