[Oldiebutgoodie]

I wanted to start doing some practice runs with inlays. A couple of quick questions to make sure my head is in the right place. I have an inlay kit with router bit. But when I purchased an inlay that I wanted to take a look at it turned out to be 1/2" width and a 1/28" depth. Does an inlay like this get installed by routing or is it meant to be applied on the surface? Do I get most of my finishing done, and then glue it up, or do I glue to bare wood and finish later? Will light areas on the inlay take up the stain?

Is inlay just a special type of veneering? :boat:

 

[Steve Neul]

Any time I've done inlet work the inlet was cut like a jigsaw puzzle with the face veneer and held together with tape into a sheet and laminated to the substrate. I suppose you could use a router to mill the wood out to insert a inlet but you would have to use a very good sharp router bit and be very accurate in milling the slot. Once the inlet has been glued in, it should be sanded level with the rest of the wood and will stain just fine. The only thing that would prevent the light wood from staining is if you got glue on the surface that wasn't properly sanded off.