Continuing with our custom medallion creation… (catch up with us back at this post).
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Continuing with our custom medallion creation… (catch up with us back at this post).
At this point it was time to cut the center piece. Using the circle jig, I routed out the center. Then I drew the design I wanted on paper. Slowly but surely I cut all the pieces on my scroll saw.
If I needed to correct a cut, I'd use a stationary belt sander to fine-tune it. Every piece needed to fit perfectly. There is no room for "putty is your buddy" nonsense. There are 56 pieces to cut and fit. Not only that wood putty is amateur and insulting to this kind of work, it would also not age right with the wood. I think I used six types of woods on the center piece: yellowheart, bubinga, holly, jatoba, rosewood and padauk. Â
I taped them as I went along, then glued them down. All done:
Oh, by the way no jigs made for this center piece. Drawing and cutting is all that's needed.
Next it was time to make the holly stringing. String inlays are thin strips of wood inlaid into a surface for decorative purposes. The stringing I made was hand-cut, and the process is a whole book by itself. All I want to say for now is you will need custom hand tools for stringing, and there aren't that many out there. I made the stringing 1/6" wide by 1/8" (1.587 mm x 3.175 mm) deep. I know-stressfull!
Now it was time to inlay 32 holly arcs. First, find the center of each arc so that you know where to place your pivoting point on your jig. An arc is part of the circumference of a circle or other curve. In this case our string inlays are the arcs. All that left to do is route out 32 arcs and inlay the stringing. You know those infomercials on TV where they say "But wait, there's more!" every minute? I'd like to say it once: But wait! You can't route out 32 arcs. All the arcs are intersecting each other.
So, what do you do to get a crisp line between them? Route out 16 arcs, stop, have a glass of wine and wipe the sweat off your face. Inlay the holly stringing using yellow glue and let dry for a few hours. After that, if you still feel suicidal, route the remaining 16 arcs cutting through the stringing you had already installed. Glue in the remaining string inlays and you are done.
I use a vacuum center pivoting point so I don't have to have a hole in my floor. My router is a heavy-duty plunge type, and my technique is pretty good. But wait, there's more! You are working on a finished medallion inlaying a contrasting wood. Any variation, any mess up, anything that is off by just a little bit will show. The first 16 string inlays look good enough. If you are like me, you don't want it to look good enough (it depends on whom you're askin- my wife or me, which determines whether I am either stupid or crazy). You want it to look awesome and, besides, where's the challenge, right? I had fun making that medallion, and my in-laws were very happy. That is all there's to it.
The band Live has a song that says something about life I'd like to share: "If you only run for cover it's just a waste of time." When you do your work, when you live your life, when you decide whether to do the right thing or take the easy way out, think about it. Running for cover is boring and yields nothing more than what you already have. You only live once, so what's the worst that can happen if you messed up? Well, with this medallion, make another piece, after all, it's just a floor.
With your life, it's up to you. Have a good week.