This is a good tutorial! I would point out one thing though - the flat depth on the plug doesn't change the size of the "glue pocket", it changes the gap between the pieces at their surfaces. The glue pocket size is determined by the difference between the pocket depth and the start depth of the plug. So if your pocket depth is .2" and your plug start depth is .18", there will be a .02" deep glue pocket. The flat depth then is for leaving a gap between the surfaces (if you want one, for example some people like to cut the plug waste away with a bandsaw). If you changed it to something extreme, say 1", then there would be a 1" gap between the surface of the board and the opposing surface of the plug waste. But the glue pocket would still be .02" because that's the difference between a .2" pocket and a .18" plug start depth. Hope that makes sense! Cheers
One of the easiest tutorials on the subject to follow and understand. I have watched them all and this is the one I recommend to others. Thank you for making this!
Stars, thank you for showing these steps. Especially the milling and install of the stars. Most how-to videos skip this important step. Again thank you Sir for sharing your knowledge and your time.
I had watched Garrets video on inlay and definitely will be using those numbers but I am happy to see you can use a tapered carving bit to do the actual cutting. I feel the 90 and 60 deg v bits are too wide to make tight corners plus using the pocket method is excellent as well. Thank you for this.
STARS- Thanks for posting this tutorial. I've been running my shop as a legit business for a couple of years now, but I have somewhat pigeonholed myself and have to expand for a widening customer base. I hate telling a customer "I can't do that" and it gives them the impression that I'm totally clueless. I've half-assedly played around with inlays, but not seriously enough to learn it well. This has given me a lot to consider, especially using a TBE bit to cut with, and not a V bit. It's a concept I hadn't ever heard of, until now. When I have tried inlays, I almost always ended up with something that looked just okay, at best. Most inlays would be ill-fitting and/or have gaps in places that should have been tight. I'm glad I found your video, thanks again for posting!
Glad I could help! Nothing wrong with telling a customer "that's not my speciality". Done that many times, gives me a good excuse to network and recommend a friend.
Stars - Excellent video. I've spent hundreds of hours researching cutting board inlay methods and beating my head against the wall for months. Although I think I finally found some settings that work, I really like your method and I can't wait to try it. You've managed to solve all of the problems and at the same time, simplify the instructions. Great job!!!
stars. new to cnc, learning inlays. 3 days trying to get the numbers right, and can't figure out those rounded inner corners. i had watched almost half of this video previously and stopped, as i was looking for carveco and metric tutorials... today i solved the corner problem by doing pocket instead of vcarve, just trial and error, now this evening i'm looking for more tutorials, and refind this video, watch all the way, and realize i had only needed to keep watching for another couple minutes to have gotten the info i needed a week ago!. thank you.
Stars! Stars! Omg Stars dude!!!!! Wow you killed it! My father was born in 1907 and made his living as an interior finish carpenter. He would pat you on the back and with his deep Swedish accent say want to go get some coffee? He would love to talk with you and spend Time in your shop making things all day long and so would I! Thank you for making this Video!
Well, im stumped. Its been some time but historically I have had ok luck doing inlays. Been out of the shop for some time due to medical reasons and figured id kick out a project with a simple inlay. Using the exact same amana bit (46280) and 1/4em for clearing I have a very simple pocket with an island in the middle (think doughnut) using your exact same settings as in video: female pocket = vcarve toolpath start depth 0" and flat depth .2" Male plug = pocket toolpath, start depth .18" with cut depth of .02" I even tried using v-carve tool paths for both male/female ends and same result. The plug drops right it with play I can feel. Not a tight fit at all. Thinking maybe the original SVG was somehow to blame I imported the SVG again on a brand new project. Selected outer and inner vectors and did a v-carve toolpath. Copied the same 2 vectors to a new layer, flipped them, selected outer vector and created an offset of it and then selected all 3 nested vectors to create pocket toolpath. Im totally stumped as to why I have such a loose fit. The machine is a onefinity woodworker and I have not noticed any play in of the axis. no wavy/uneven cuts on any axis yet still have sloppy inlays, super frustrating.
I have read and watched several videos of ways to do V Carve and find this method works best. What I like is that it doesn't cut as deep (unless you want to) and this cuts down on the time it takes to carve something. I also like the way the tapered bits work in this method since they cut easily and clean. I used a 3-degree bit, and the joints were exceptional. Unless I have large areas, I don't use a clearance bit and the bottoms are exceptionally smooth. Thanks for taking the time to put this together.
Stars are looking great! This is a great help, I'm about 3 months into the cnc world and want to start doing some inlays, so thanks for the great info!
Thank you so much for the tutorial. Really nice to see the physical examples with the plugs cutaway as well as the software walkthrough. About to try some cutting board inlays.
Stars: I just ordered the bit to help in fixing my horrible inlays. Garrett has also helped me in some of the struggles I've had as a "newbie". Thanks for the info
Stars, I just started my woodworking business and MURICA cutting boards are one of my ideal products. These settings are perfect for my testing for this week. Thank you.
@@GearheadDaily I see you imported your bit size. Is this available with the trial and how did you do it. looking for a tutorial on how this is done now. Thanks
Stars. This was really useful, I’m using vertex vcarve pro and a one finity cnc. There is a steep learning curve but you Garret mark L and a few others are making the learning soooo much easier. Mahalo
STARS, What a revolutionary Idea. Completely different than I see everywhere else. Going to try this this weekend. Excellent video and explanations. Much appreciated.
Stars! That is the same bit that Broinwood uses! His inlays are remarkable. I have been using the vcarve path for my plugs, but next one I do I will use the pocket!This has been very helpful, it also shows that I can always learn more. Thanks for posting this.
I participate heavily in several Facebook CNC groups and one topic people need help a lot with is inlays. I see people throwing out all sorts of crazy numbers they got "from a video" that don't work so they ask for help. I have a couple videos I often send them to and/or quote numbers they should try. Your numbers with a .02 glue gap align with what I already have been telling people but I must say your video is better than any of the other ones I have seen on doing inlays, especially the part about using a narrow TBN instead of a V bit to get steep walls. I'm going to start referring people to this video.
Stars, and strips! Thanks for sharing this info! Looking forward to getting my hobby shop going. Last commercial cabinet shop I owned had a 14" table saw, miter box, quality spraying equipment, lots of air drills, misc tools, oh, and me! Now, looking at cnc point to point machines under 4k? Laser cutting under 2k? OMG, I would have gone crazy with this stuff back in the day! Now, in my 50's, no chance I want a big shop and a giant table saw. You work on this set up looks simple, clean, fun, and actually not over the top expensive to get into. Thanks for the video.!
Great tutorial! I was confused for a moment as to how you got the clearing toolpath for the pocket. I didn't create one for me, but then I saw you already had the end mill in your tool list on the pocket toolpath. Once I went back and added the end mill to the tool list, all was right with the world. Thanks again for an awesome, easy to understand tutorial.
Stars. Woke up early this morning worrying about my inlay. Trying to do a double inlay. And prolly too small. The problem is that, according to common learned knowledge, I’m using a 60° v-bit. But this destroys the tail feathers on the firebird I’m cutting. Great fix you have here. But I need to try the female cut. Seems odd to use the pocket for it. Thank you.
Stars! I just discovered your channel and glad I did. To help you along, I clicked the like and did this comment thing for the algorithm. You also earned a subscribe as the info in the video is quality. End result is worthy of a gold star. ⭐️
Super thorough, and very helpful. Good explanation of the "Why" in addition to the what/how. I will say, though, could use a little more volume on the narrated at the computer parts
Stars … great video! As a beginner in the cnc world this content keeps me understand better especially the fact that I’m using vectric v carve pro and have a onefinity journeyman! Keep up the good work and again thank you! You have a new subscriber!
Stars - A big thank you. Excellent, excellent video. I love the snap at the end with a little hammer tapping. Have you tested the outer boundaries of how deeply you can make the negative cut? I'm guessing it's only limited by the depth of the cut on the bit, yes?
Stars, Thank you for this video, it explains inlays as you really want to do them! I have the Amana 46282-K thats 5.4 degrees and so far I've used it for 3d reliefs, excited to try our your method, I subscribed :)
Stars. 👍 I’ve been researching CNCs, inlays, etc for a year now and hope to get my first machine this spring. I’ve always disliked the “leave a huge glue gap” method and wondered if something like this would be a better option. Thanks for doing the research and providing your findings with us here!! Subscribed and liked. 👍
Stars...Great video! I was a little miffed at first with the downplay of the Vectric method - originally the Paul Zank method (a great friend of mine - RIP)...BUT, every thing you said was spot on and easy to understand and make sense...can't wait to give it a go.
Stars Great video. I use the 0.0, 0.3 and 0.2, 0.1 method in Vcarve Pro. My primary bit is 1/4 inch carbide 60 deg. Never had an issue with fine details. Having said that, I am going to try your method as I am open to new ideas. I have the Amana bit you reference, but I've always thought of it as a V bit. Albeit a very deep V! Last thing, to remember concave vs convex use this mnemonic, a cave is a hole in a mountain. It goes in. Again, great video! I'm subscribed! So keep them coming.
Stars,,, great job. I use easel but I am thinking changing over to vector. Its just when you get use to something its hard to change. I think you can do more in vector. Thanks
STARS!! I haveto say this was excellent! I have a laguna CNC and use Aspire. The 1,2,3 method aspire uses sucks! I have been attempting to reach Broinwood for sometime now in asking what depths they use for their boards as I really want to try a more complex board, however using aspires methods would fail miserably. I just finished a board that I am not happy with due to the hollow sound it has from the inlay. I am going to try your method on a more complex board and see what happens. I have the bit you recommend already in my tool kit, and I understand the 15 degree bit is another great one to use. Thank you very much for this great tutorial....thewoodwright
Thanks! I have watched the Broinwood videos and I believe this method is very close if not exactly what they do. It wasn't too hard to reverse engineer.
STARS, man this is a great video. I am working on trying the inlay in the stars and this has helped me a great deal. I am planning on getting the 6.2 TBN very soon..Many thanks,
The biggest thing is pick your depth, then set your final depth to how much space you want under the piece and then make the start depth whatever would be left to get to your full depth. Lately I've used .3 depth for female .28 start depth for male with a .02 cut for mail.
Stars - Thank you so much for this video. My friend used this method to do a small inlay of the state of Texas and it worked perfectly. I tried it with a simple half moon and it is horribly sloppy. We tried it on my friend's machine and got the same sloppy results. We used your recommendations of cutting the pocket to .2 and the plug with a 0.18/0.02. We thought maybe my z probe thickness wasn't calibrated properly but when we measured it the value was spot on. Please let me know if you have any ideas why mine is not working? Thank you! Jim
That use of a fine tip ball-nose bit and pocketing the male part is genius! But I don't like the idea of fixed values for the different depths. I think they depend on the size of the inlay, the woods being used, the grain orientation and the accuracy / rigidity of your machine. Choose the size of gap you want to have between the male (plug) piece and the female (inlaid) piece for the saw blade ( the "saw gap"). Then choose the amount of space you need for the glue gap - that will depend on the hardness of the wood, size of the inlay, etc but should be as small as practical. Last, choose how deep you want the plug piece to fit into the inlay piece ( the plug engagement depth I call it). The deeper this is, the greater the glue surface on the sides. You can't rely on a good glue joint at the bottom - remember, you specified a gap there! Then you have defined all the cut depths you need. For the female part your start depth is zero and flat depth is plug engagement depth plus the glue gap. For the male piece, the start depth (in Vectric vcarve) is the saw gap, and the flat depth is the plug engagement depth.
Oops, I made a mistake - for the male piece the START depth is the plug engagement depth and the FLAT depth is the saw gap. Sorry folks for the boo-boo!
I have done so much experimenting with inlays, but I've never thought of using a ball nose. I wouldn't think that you could get a sharp corner with a round tip. That being said, I'm n the middle of doing a couple of cutting boards with inlays, and i'm dying to try your method. Thanks for the video!
Stars - Hi Eric, I reached out to you the other day as I am trying my first inlay project. I followed the setting in your video in Vcarve pro and the female side came out great but a total failure on the male insert. Would it be ok to ask a couple of specific questions? On the male side I set the tool path as a pocket tool path and tried to use a 1/8 upcut endmill to rough out the area around the insert and the Amana tool you linked for the finishing. I ran the rough cut first and it seemed to work but chipped out at a couple of spots on the insert inlay part. that was the first issue. Once the rough cut was dome I changed tools to the amana and just set my Z value leaving the x and Y. The tool when returned to 0 was off the corner of the board as I suspected because of the extreme taper of the Amana 46280 tool. Do I need to set the x,y, and z values on the second tool or would you run the Amana tool first? Also when running the Amana tool do you only choose the inlay part and not the outer offset as the tool goes back over all of the area that the roughing tool already did and takes forever and not taking off much wood? I think I must have missed something as the word I also put in did not carve at all with the Amana tool and therefore has not way to fit into the female side. Sorry for the long winded comment but I must have missed something? I would also be interested in having a call with you and paying for your time if you offer those services at all. Thanks
Stars Hi Eric, I am new to hobby woodworking and interested in learning but am struggling a bit. Is it possible to get the exact numbers and settings that you use in Vectric? I think it will be a better starting point than what I have and i can experiment from there. I to make a lot of cutting boards for friends and family and have run into the thin fine line issue you talked about. I would much appreciate the starting point and I also took your advice and ordered the Amana bit. Thank you so much. Ron
@@ronbernstein2889 all of the specs are in the video during the vectric portion. Otherwise download the Amana catalogue, that way you'll have the exact shape of bit
My project was for 3-lines of text and a swirling design above and below that. (This is not my 1st inlay but it is my 1st time using this method). I watched the video multiple times to make sure I got it right but. I went slow with my carving and cleaned up any burrs after. No matter what I did, the 2 pieces would not fit together. I used a new 4.8 degree tapered ballnose and both pieces carved very well. But again even with a little "mallet convincing", there was no way that these would join together. Fortunately, I used scrap wood that was surfaced but I am at a loss as to why this did not work out.
Stars. Would you say that any inlay shape would work with this method even intricate ones? Great explanation, thank you for taking the time recording it.
Stars. Good video. Are you saying you use the pocket toolpath for both the pocket (negative) and plug? It was very clear on the plug, but I couldn't tell on the negative if that is what you did - I think so. Wanted to validate.
"STARS" Very informative video. You make it really look easy. Will be trying that this weekend. Think that would make an awesome cutting board. What finish would be your recommendation to use to seal it? Again thanks, will be watching for additional videos.
Stars: First of all GREAT video! So I did a Chili Pepper inlay on a cutting board using a 15V bit. For the plug I did a flat depth of .18 and start depth of .02 while the Pocket was .20. I ran into the issue of pocket/Plug being too tight to fit. My question is, do you use pocket allowance? I didn't see you use that in this video. Or, should have I used a bigger bit (45 or 60) because the "Chili Pepper" was a bigger inlay and didn't have too much detail. I appreciate your video and responses to the comments.
Stars, you never explained how you get the pointy cutter to re-cut from the bottom to the top to clear out the corners and not leave that undercut or radius in those corners. No CAM software I’ve seen will do that.
Stars. This is totally cool and sharp corners with the ballnose. When doing a union do you do each star seperate of do you have a method of doing all 50 at once?
Question from a novice CNC'er: If I read the screens correctly, when making the male part of the inlay, you are plunging with the 6.2 degree bit straight down to 0.18 inches and then you're moving at 50 ipm. I would have thought that would be too harsh on such a fine bit on hardwood but I guess not. I want to try this technique soon and I really want to avoid screwing it up so Im hoping you can confirm these numbers. Thanks in advance, this is a great and helpful video tutorial
STARS - This is GREAT and can't wait to try it! This is very different than any of the MANY vids I have watched on this but I have a couple of questions though if you have a minute please. One is how can I increase the gap of the positive piece above the negative board to be able to cut off the excess with my bandsaw? Would that be to increase the cut depth on the positive piece a touch? Also how do you accommodate for the Start Depth if/when the cut may be deeper than the bit can handle? I've tried so many ways I cannot recall any of the exact depths I used but there were times the start depth plus the cut depth were a little excessive for my bit. Last question is how long were these cuts using the ball nose bit compared to a v-bit? The machining bit at the end seems as though it took quite a while to cut each piece. Thanks!
I hope it helps! So... 1. You can up the difference so in this case, 0.16 and .04 would increase that amount to cut off. 2. how big of a cut and inlay are you trying to make? that seems really deep. 3. Each process was maybe 1-2 min total.
Stars. And here I thought I was a smarty-pants thinking of creating a flag board with purpleheart.... I'm just getting started with CNC, so I know next to nothing. This is tremendously helpful. I was trying to get it done in Easel (don't laugh, I know, I know), but can't figure out how to get the "male" piece done. Now, I have a better idea of what to do. Thanks!
