Excavating Inlay Cavities With Small Sharp Hand Tools

[Gilbert Fredrickson]

I would like to inlay a small fluer de lis on the headstock of a guitar but I have only hand tools. What small edge tools would be useful? Thank you. I do have some .050 black veneer.

[Gordon Bellerose]

I have only done inlay cavities with a Dremel tool, and tiny bits.
I think your thread title probably says it all. Small, sharp hand tools, most likely the type used by carvers.

I do believe it will be difficult to get the correct uniform depth required for inlay, but I am no carver.

[Doug Shaker]

If I were trying to do this task by hand, I think I would use a combination of Veritas router planes and gooseneck chisels. The router planes would give me a close to uniform depth and I could clean up the sides with regular chisels and the edges of the bottom with gooseneck chisels.

The tricks would be:
- picking a router plane that properly spanned the width of the inlay without one side falling into the cavity
- finding or grinding a blade for the plane that let me get into all the odd cavities that could be needed in an inlay
- keeping the router blade sharp enough.

[Jim McConkey]

Google a specialized plane commonly called an "old woman's tooth" (like this: http://www.bob-easton.com/blog/2009/866/). They can be easily made from an old Allen wrench, and plane a trough or inlay cavity to a constant depth.

[Dave Stewart]

Simple inlays (think federal style furniture) can be done with various scratch stocks, setting the boundaries with a dual blade gramil tool first. Fluer de lis is more intricate, but the same principles would apply. Alternatively, you could cut & assemble your inlay like a jigsaw puzzle using headplate material to create a simple (square?) perimeter, and inlay that as whole into the headplate.

[Michael Lewis]

I made some little chisels from used needle files and triangular files.

Get your magnifying head band and a good light, keep the tools sharp, take a deep breath, and settle into a meditative state because this will take some time and require your constant attention focused on the job. The more you do it the better you will get and the more even your work will be. Learn to relax.

Cut your inlay first.

[Phil Walsh]

You mentioned that you have veneer... if it's not glued to the headstock yet you could cut the outline with a jeweler's saw or small coping saw. I just got done doing that myself. I've always used a dremel with router base before, but I actually think it was easier this way.

[Tyko Runesson]

You mentioned that you have veneer... if it's not glued to the headstock yet you could cut the outline with a jeweler's saw or small coping saw. I just got done doing that myself. I've always used a dremel with router base before, but I actually think it was easier this way.

......and if you haven´t cut out the inlay yet you could saw out the inlay and the cavaties for it at the same time by gluing the inlaymaterial onto the veneer and then cut both at the same time. That way the inlay will fit perfect and just need a tiny amount of filling.

[Darrel Friesen]

I'd add that if it's after the fact, that you don't need a perfectly uniform depth cavity, especially if using epoxy. It has been posted in the past that a toothpick glued to the inlay with a dab of wood glue will suspend the inlay flush with the cavity while the epoxy or thick CA dries. So, if using hand excavation methods, make sure to over excavate slightly.