Woodworking Inlay Made Easy 

It's a good and generous man who shares his tips with the rest of the world.

At least you're not using ramen noodles lol.

Awesome!! Thank you so much for sharing this very simple but amazing way to inlay to be able to personalize our work!! I am grateful for your willingness to share your tricks of the trade!

Wow, I've thought of this before but I didn't think it would look that good. You have proven me wrong sir! Very informative.

I just found this video and am very glad I did. I tried this on a Dulcimer I'm building and it worked great. Thanks for the video.

Wow magnificent inlay work ...congratulations !!!!!!!!

Thanks for sharing a great way to make inlays.

Had an inlay collapse, wasnt full thickness in one corner, and have been looking for a means to fix it, I think we have a winner!

About to start my very first project....you just gave me a great idea!! Thanks so much! You probably just saved me hours of extra work! 😉😁😁👍👍❤️❤️❤️❤️

Great concise vid, thanks, going to try this on a scrap in prep for a current build..........

Nice technique. Thanks for sharing.

sharing those great ideas with us. thank you so much. respect

This is a great tutorial. Thank you for sharing.

thank you, nice tecnic. I was looking for something like that to improve my art. thanks again :)

Very informative thank you very much for sharing your technique. I may finally be able to do an inlay.

Thank you for sharing this technique. As someone who is just getting started, the use of inexpensive materials take some of the pressure off my mind. All the best.

Excellent tutorial!

This video was a life saver, thank you very very much.

I LOVE IT MAN I have been messing up a bunch of Brazilian pepperwood trying to make a handle for my father's knife with his initials in it. I have failed multiple This is going to do the trick thank you very much 👍✌️

Im definitely doing this!

Thank you for the information. That's very nice work!!

I've been doing this for a while, but I use epoxy and transtint dye. The great thing about your method or expoy, is that you can do very small detailed designs that would be very difficult to execute with pearl or wood inlay

Thank you!

Cool stuff going on. Thank You.

Made my side dots that way, never thought of an inlay :) At work...

use this product and loved it! thank you for sharing your technique

I love this! Thank you for sharing. I will laser engrave some lettering and use the filling technique shown. Don't learn the tricks-learn the trade!

That is a super cool technique! I enjoy that you are always thinking outside the box.

Guys, Of all the woodwork kits I have bought over the years, this is the best collection I have. Its an excellent resource for beginners as well as seasoned woodworkers.

today i learned that there are some other ways you can use with wood filler thank you kind sir

Awesome !

Very nice....

Thanks for the tip.

brilliant technique. thanks

Thanking you for this share

Rock hard putty is amazingly tough stuff, i used it on a fretboard once to make it fretless

I may use that technique on a muzzle loader kit I am about to put together... was looking for a type of only to do (there really are a ton of them), this one looks both easy yet intricate and is still one of the cheaper ways of doing it.... THANK YOU!

wow, that is great! Doing it freehand as well. You are less shaky than I am lol.

Clever, im going to try a similar thing with a laser engraver rather than a router or dremel

I think you could also make inlays out of dental composite. Easy to use, durable and can be polished to a very glossy surface. Brand new composite is kinda expensive, but you can use expired products. They work just as well, just cannot be used on patients for legal reasons. Ask your dentist or local dental school, they probably have some old ones lying around.

you can also use a lot of poeders or granulates, and bind them with CA.

thanks for the vid very nice

Slick!

Very Cool!! I've just started experimenting with using tinted two part ultra clear acrylic resin compounds for inlays. So far, I have to say that the results have been extremely promising. There are soft resins, rubbery resins etc for making costume jewelry and such. The soft resins didn't hold up very well, and I never tried the rubbery versions for obvious reasons. But the acrylic extra hard and ultra clear resins has turned out great results. and can be tinted in any color you want with commercially available acrylic tints and paints. Nice video!! Bob in Germany

Thank you.

I got a cough for 3 days with the CA . Keep me awake for all that time . . Not realizing that’s what caused it it happened again to me . I even went to the doctor after the first time . He didn’t know what it was either . I finally figured it out . Do the right thing .....Ventilation ! I was spreading it out on a hobby project very large areas in a small basement room . I still use it often but carefully.

Thats what i used to cut mine out i been building for over 20 years now.

I will be trying this to replace missing inlay on an old mandolin thanks for sharing! I will let you know how it goes.

Nice

This inspires me to do my own custom fretboard. I priced down having it done from a few shops found on web, I’m not that well off financially to afford those rates for an aesthetic purpose. Even worse, I was ordering my dream guitar and way out of my price I would pay. I even got a price from esp. $8,000.00. After shopping on eBay, I ordered all parts needed for less than $200.00. I’m on my way to building my dream guitar myself for a hell of a lot less. I would really love to have my 80’s ex series Ibanez done professionally due to it being my best playing guitar out of 20 guitars. Most inexpensive one next to my Jackson Charvelle from 80’s as well. If I can master custom fretboards, I will be starting my own brand of guitar with any fret design anyone wants, relatively inexpensive. First off, I just ordered a new fretboard for around $50. Not much of a loss if I screw up. Ordered the wood filler he is using. Also ordered fret material sheet I can make inlays with. I found a sticker version of inlays I would like to use as patterns already sized for me. Have to love RU-vid university for learning skilled trades. Edit: I build, remodel, do all exterior aspects of a house. This project cannot be more complicated. I have a bad habit of building guitars from parts on eBay and then selling it on eBay. Not very profitable but I did it for fun. I do make my own bodies but I have patterns to copy so it really doesn’t count. This will make my guitars unique and each one of a kind. If I pull this off I will be doing it under my bosses business and let him market my brand. He’s good at it.

I've done similar with caulking filler. Good way to start doing inlays. Almost foolproof. (Though nothing is totally foolproof to a suitably talented fool !!)

Charles recommended That I google up Woody Hyezmar…, lo and behold he’s giving his woodworking plans at no cost!

Thank you for a great video and for sharing....a couple of questions: Can the routing process be accomplished with a trim router, with plunge base? I have read that the heavier trim router is more stable than the Dremel....and I already have the trim router!

interesting, economic and ecologic too, that’s great !

Hey Chris, another great video. I wish I had seen this one a lot sooner though haha I’ve been doing my inlays using the glow in the dark technique you’ve shared before. I’m curious if you’ve ever tried mixing the glow power in with the timber mate or not.

Love this and your other instructionals. Gonna try this on a headstock design. But I want to match a color I’m using. Can you expand on tinting the filler? What options you recommend? Thanks in advance sir!

This technique relies on a crisp outline of the image...something I have been unable to do. And pearl and abalone catch the light. This doesn't.

hi chris...nice work! can you please tell me where to get those little stencils, or images you use like that little long horn skull thing you used in this video?

great video. however is it possible to apply a finish varnish?

What exactly were the dremel bits you used. Very clean. Nice!

Great technique, but does the filler shrink later anyhow?

Once the filler is hardened with the CA Glue, does that make it resist staining? I'm thinking about making some inlaid coasters using this technique and I'm thinking I should stain after the inlay is put it, but since i'm wanting to use a Dark Walnut stain with the white filler I want to make sure that the filler wont stain.

Do you not need to plunge route this before you begin with the precision router? I see stew Mac makes both. I’m trying to decide which one to get and if I need the plunge router for this sort of project.

Great tip.. How did you get the frets out of the neck ?

Good nice and easy, but I thought crushed mother of pearl would work here also ??? I do like the trick with the Super glue, done that also with baking soda to instantly cure or harden it Thanks for the info

C Hello, can you recommend where to purchase the template you used please? Informative and interesting tutorial. Many thanks Neil

The problem with this is the sanding, with the amount you sanded, that guitar neck will no longer be even, the should be done while making the neck not after, then the issue of filler and glue in the fret dividers won't be an issue

I could not tell, did you route through the paper image?

This is great! Can you dye the timber-mate or do you stick with their range of colors?

You could also paint like metal flake candy apple lacquer and probably do a hand rub color tint into that first you have to use some kind of silver base or gold base go to get the candy metallic behind it You might even be able to get into your filler

Wall putty + Wood glue ?? After it dries . Super glue on it. Will it work?

quick dry epoxy does it for me

Hi chris, I have a question as to the next step of this process. how does the neck oil up (I'm using BOIL - boiled linseed oil)? Does the CA glue used to harden the timber mate, bleed into the the surrounding grain and does the affect the finish with the BOIL. Again, many thanks for sharing. great work. -AJ

Doesn't the timber mate stick in the pores of the surrounding wood?

Not that I've read ALL the comments, but has anyone noticed that the CA glue that 'dries rock hard' - was NOT removed from the fret grooves? The issue wasn't even mentioned.

Very nice , can I purchase all these items at a hobby shop?

I notice all using inlay powder work on UNFINISHED pieces of wood. I am trying to replace missing inlay on very nice little Indian elephant leg table. How do I protect the finished wood

What was that base you used with the Dremel? That was fantastic, where did you get it?

Question: If I am going to oil the wood, would I do it before or after doing the inlay?

I wonder where he gets those small router bits? Also, how would colored epoxy work, I wonder.

How did you secure the paper to the fret board when you cut the inlay?

You’ve had years to assess this. Does it hold up well? It looks great. Thanks 👍🇦🇺

How do you deal with the CA glue that filled up the fret slots? Resaw them? How does the saw handle the glue?

Can I get a price on getting my favorite guitar a custom fretboard done. I don’t trust myself this much yet.

Is the CA glue not soaked into the wood as well and effecting the finishing when it's applied ? ( Assuming the wood wasn't finished wit oil or varnish at the time of the routing )

Hi, can you use mica powder to tint this? And if you use dye what kind? I am looking for a deep Navy-Blue color.

Is it possible to use baking soda and superglue with some coloring?

But if you stain the fret won't the areas with superglue around the inlay not stain?

Great, what kind of dremel bit did you use? Size and model? Thank you

i'm thinking of a headstock inlay, is it possible to make it mixing glitter in resin?

But... But... He sanded a fretboard that had already been radiused... He got that hard gunk in the fret holes... Am... Am I missing something

Silly question: can you do the same with wood dust + glue?

I'm relatively new to woodworking in general but wouldn't the oil based filler be better since the fretboard is raw wood?

do you know if they carry timber mate in other colors, or just white?

Hey Highline Can I use an epoxy to fill the inlay and tint it?

اود اعرف اسم العجون ده وفين يباع

I thought about trying this with a tinted epoxy resin as the filler. Have you ever tried that? I imaging the sanding step would be harder with the epoxy. With the proper white and silver tints it might be possible to achieve a faux mother of pearl effect with the epoxy I think. I am considering trying it for a head-stock logo....

How do you resolve that the cut outs for the frets are now more shallow? And that the middle of the fretboard is thinner than the edges?

How deep inlay was(in mm)? I have hard time to understand inches

Could you link me to where you got that router guide/base?