Intarsia
..the basics
..picking the wood
..tracing your pattern
..basic cutting skills
..fitting your pieces
..sanding & profiling
..final assembly
..making the back panel

Veneering
..wood veneer basics
..which glue to use
..veneering up your work

Woodburning
..The Basics
..Do's and Don'ts
..Wood Burner
..Wood Burning Pen
..Clean Woodburning Pen
..Wood Burning Blanks
..Tansfering your Pattern

Woodcraft Ideas
..click here for list

Woodworking Tools
..tools info-click here

Wood
....wood info-click here

Picking the Right Wood:

Generally when you shop for wood, you are really looking for three things, colour/species, grain/figure and machineability. These issues are interrelated. In other words you may want a beautiful exotic red wood, only to find out that with the machinery that you have, you can't cut it.

When selecting wood for intarsia, you must keep in mind the artistic considerations and the technical problems in dealing with each species.

Machineability:
If you are a beginner, it is particularly important to chose woods that are easy to work with. Many exotic woods have wonderful colour and figure but can generate a great deal of frustration, when it comes to cutting and sanding. They generally cut better on a bandsaw, than a scrollsaw and are too hard to get a good cut, without burning, on the lighter duty machines. Will this be an issue?

Light coloured woods are relatively easy to find, like basswood, poplar and pine. All of these will machine easily, with basswood the least likely to splinter. Some customers will use some of the construction species, because they are relatively available and cheap (like spruce, red pine), but most of them are very splintery, ooze a fair amount of sap and difficult to find dry.

Of the dark woods, cedar would be on the top of the list for cost and ease of use. It cuts nicely, but it does have a strong fibrous grain, so it is not good for cross grain cutting. Walnut and cherry are good substitutes. They are both significantly more expensive, but their tighter grain will hold together better, when cutting fancy pieces. Both woods are softer than oak or maple, and as such, easier to cut.

For small projects, consider using wood that is thinner than 3/4". It will be easier to cut and more in proportion with the overall project, ... particularly if you are using it to decorate a large wood project...ie a toy box.

Intarsia Patterns for Sale by site owners
-intarsia patterns designed by the authors of this site...your purchase, supports our database of free information

Colour & Species of Wood?
When you are choosing a particular wood, be aware of the variations in colour between sap and heartwood. For example, sap maple is very white but the heartstock can be gray black or reddy brown. Specify, if possible, whether you need the heartwood or sapwood.

Some woods (often western red cedar) have interesting gradations of colour from light to dark, in one board, that can be effectively used to show depth in your work. Keep a selection around to chose from as you work.

Many woods will actually change colour as they age. Cherry is the best example. It is quite light in tone when it is fresh cut, but ages to a medium to dark shade quite quickly when it is exposed to sunlight. Eastern White Pine is pale straw coloured when freshly sanded but ages to a more golden colour with time... consider this in your project.

Finishes applied to your work, usually darken the natural colour of the wood and often the finish itself ages with time. The caution is not to fight with nature and try to prevent these changes from happening, but rather predict their behavior and allow for it in your design.

Grain & Figure of the Wood:
Pick grainy woods (like ash and oak), for parts of the project that you want to show action or direction, but use non-grainy wood (like maple or basswood) for surfaces that are metallic. Before you cut, place small sample pieces in the middle of your project, to get a feel for the appropriateness of each species.

Avoid using most figured woods. It is usually a waste of money, because the pieces are too small to make good use of the beautiful grain patterns of figured woods. The exception, although this is not truly a figured wood, is when I chose wood with interesting knots. Sometimes you can incorporate a knot or other "defects" into a strategic position on your pattern (see the eye & breast of the loon).

As with most things in life, you get better with practice. Be bold, there will always be choices you don't like, but with time you will develop a good eye.

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