| A lot of people/companies cut out the area for the inlay making the
hole larger than the piece being inlayed, then place the inlayed part
(usually using either a special glue or clear epoxy), then take the
wood shavings that were removed (from the finger board), grind them up,
mix the ground wood with clear epoxy & fill in the open areas between
the inlay and the fretboard (Ovation clearly does this on thier necks
that have ebony fingerboards).
People who do custom work will look upon this sort of thing very poorly
but recognise that the person who put the inlay in at the factory
probably was not earning much above minimum wage & the process allows a
less skilled person to do the job.
If the guitar is already assembled, then you need to trace the inlay
(using a pencil) against the place you are planning on putting it. Use
a dremmel tool that has a depth control flange on it (makes it into a
mini router) and cut out the major areas as best as possible. You may
have to change router bits occasionally (starting with a larger routing
cutter and working down to a much smaller bit). Most inlay is very
thin.
If you want to work with wood inlay & the part is not already
installed, you need a jewelers saw (the blade resembles a single thread
attached to a support that looks like a small hand operated jig saw).
You carefully clamp the parts together that you plan to cut, then cut
them out together (this can be lots harder than it sounds). When you
are done, you can pop out both pieces and insert one into the other
(the jewelers saw makes very narrow cuts. In a sence, this is very much
like building your own jigsaw puzzel out of 1/64 to 1/16 inch thick
wood veneer. Something that takes a lot of practice and determination.
When you see a guitar with round dots as fret markers, these were
most likely cut using a milling bit (it leaves a flat hole) on a
drill press. Milling bits are for steel/aluminum/brass/metals, and
not sold for wood working, so, they are harder to find.
Luthiers Mercantile stocks most of the materials that you would need
and has a lot in the way of books that cover this sort of thing.
I personally don't like a lot of inlay unless it's a pseudo picture.
Big blocks or trapizoids, etc do nothing for me. I've done a half
moon out of abalone (nice reds/greens/blues/pearl) that was very nice
(there was a very simple maidens head to the side). I drilled holes &
scratched lines, filling them in with ground ebony & epoxy. It's a lot
of fun, but you mist have steady hands and draw up exactly what you
really want. Watch out for the dust from mother of pearl or abalone,
as it's quite hard on the lungs.
Jens
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| Actually, my inlay is (don't laugh) a little pig, no bigger than a
penny. My great admiration for Gilmour will explain this. I've had
this little pig on my old neck for about 4 years, and would hate to get
rid of it because I got a new neck, I'd like to put it in there
permanently. Thanks for all the suggestions, I'll let you know how it
turns out!!
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