art marq�

Helpful Hints

Some woods like this bloodwood are very res-inous, making them difficult to saw. The resin clogs the teeth of the saw blade. Sliding a smali piece of wax paper between the background veneer and the insert veneer helps to lubricate the saw teeth as you work, making the process a little easier. You still may need to use a smali, fine wired brush to occasionally clean the teeth of the blade.

If the contrasting veneer that you have cut is not a snug fit, and falls through or is a loose fit, try angling your saw table slightly morę to the left. For example, try changing the scalę on the saw table from 7 degrees to 7 1/2 degrees. Making the angle steeper will create a tighter fit.

If the contrasting veneer that you have cut is too large and won’t Fit into the opening, try decreasing the angle of the saw table slightly. It may take several practice pieces, changing the saw table*s angle each time, to determine what is perfect for your situation.

When shading insert veneers, check frequently for scorching. Leaving the piece in contact with the hot sand for too long may result in some shrinkage.

If an insert veneer shrinks in the hot sand, it’s possible to expand the piece back to its original size by soaking it with water for a few seconds. Once the insert veneer correctly fits the opening again, allow it to dry fiat before gluing into place.

Give some thought to your marquetry work area, especially for sawing. Choose a stool or chair that places you in a comfortable working position, not so high that you’re hunching over the saw table or so Iow that you strain to follow the progress of the saw blade. The table of my scroll saw is 41" above the floor and the stool I use is 29" high. When seated, the saw table is about 2" higher than my elbows. I find this working height very comfortable and can saw a few hours at a time without feeling fatigued. When using a fret saw, 1 work at my cabinetmakers bench which measures 37" high. The adjust-able fret saw table I use is about 8" tali and the stool is 29" high. This places the saw table height at about the middle of my chest when seated. This is slightly higher than the scroll saw height previously mentioned, but 1 find it works well for me. Experiment with different combinations. The important thing is to be comfortable, in a well lit area, allowing yourself to focus on the marquetry technique.

Sweep the floor around your work area regu-larly. It’s very frustrating to drop a tiny piece of your design into a pile of tiny pieces that look just like it. If you do lose a little piece to the floor, try turning out some lights and shine a flashlight across the floor. This can make smaller pieces stand out.

If you lose a piece of your design (we can only assume they wind up in the same place as miss-ing socks), its easy to make a replacement. Tape a new insert veneer below the background. You‘11 see the insert veneer through the void where the missing piece should be. Proceed through all the marquetry steps as usual, the only differ-ence being that youre only cutting through the insert veneer, keeping the side of the saw blade against the opening in the background veneer. The new piece will Fit precisely in the opening.