Hello all, I am planning on building a dining room table out of maple
or ash (a white wood). On top of the table I want to get crazy with
my router and using a 1/8" or smaller bit, make random "ant tracks" on
the table top (like you might see in an ant farm). Then I want to
fill these tracks with some resin or black material that I can sand
and finish. I am trying to mimic the look of inlaid ebony. My
thoughts were that I could stain some fine sawdust (like from a belt
sander) and then mix with a clearish glue and paste into the routed
groves. Or I could use some sort of black resin to fill the gap. The
resin would need to be able to be sanded and yield a smooth surface.
Anybody have suggestions here? Thanks
On Oct 1, 9:40 am, Russ <[email protected]> wrote:
> Hello all, I am planning on building a dining room table out of maple
> or ash (a white wood). On top of the table I want to get crazy with
> my router and using a 1/8" or smaller bit, make random "ant tracks" on
> the table top (like you might see in an ant farm). Then I want to
> fill these tracks with some resin or black material that I can sand
> and finish. I am trying to mimic the look of inlaid ebony. My
> thoughts were that I could stain some fine sawdust (like from a belt
> sander) and then mix with a clearish glue and paste into the routed
> groves. Or I could use some sort of black resin to fill the gap. The
> resin would need to be able to be sanded and yield a smooth surface.
> Anybody have suggestions here? Thanks
IIRC, there was an article in Fine Woodworking about using resin for
inlays (inpours?) several years back. Search the Taunton.com site.
R
On Oct 1, 9:40 am, Russ <[email protected]> wrote:
> Hello all, I am planning on building a dining room table out of maple
> or ash (a white wood). On top of the table I want to get crazy with
> my router and using a 1/8" or smaller bit, make random "ant tracks" on
> the table top (like you might see in an ant farm). Then I want to
> fill these tracks with some resin or black material that I can sand
> and finish. I am trying to mimic the look of inlaid ebony. My
> thoughts were that I could stain some fine sawdust (like from a belt
> sander) and then mix with a clearish glue and paste into the routed
> groves. Or I could use some sort of black resin to fill the gap. The
> resin would need to be able to be sanded and yield a smooth surface.
> Anybody have suggestions here? Thanks
Find a solid surface fabricator and ask him to get you a small tube
(50 ml) of Corian adhesive in black.... or dark brown ..or any one of
50 colours. About 15 - 20 dollars. Very sandable.
Mon, Oct 1, 2007, 6:40am (EDT-3) [email protected] (Russ) doth sayeth:
Hello all, I am planning on building a dining room table <snip> I want
to get crazy <snip> make random "ant tracks" <snip> Anybody have
suggestions here?
What the other guys said. But, why not make a bit of effort, and
make it look like something you meant to do, rather than "ant tracks"?
Straight lines along each side would look good. Ant Tracks? I don't
think so.
JOAT
"I'm an Igor, thur. We don't athk quethtionth."
"Really? Why not?"
"I don't know, thur. I didn't athk."
"todd" wrote:
> I put in a ~600 SF of mesquite floor last year in our new addition.
I
> didn't find it difficult to cut with my normal blade in my SCMS.
The rough
> part was gluing it down. I was recommended Bostik Best, which is a
urethane
> glue. Nasty stuff to work with, IMO. I'd rather nail down 5 floors
than
> glue another one like that. Even one of the flooring pros I had come
in to
> give me a price to sand said he glued down a wood floor with it
once. Once.
If there is a next time, talk to SikaFlex in Detroit.
I used Sikaflex 291 to glue down the subsole on a boat.
You might like it.
Trick is to have a good gun, not some crap from Home Depot.
Lew
Russ wrote:
> Hello all, I am planning on building a dining room table out of maple
> or ash (a white wood). On top of the table I want to get crazy with
> my router and using a 1/8" or smaller bit, make random "ant tracks" on
> the table top (like you might see in an ant farm). Then I want to
> fill these tracks with some resin or black material that I can sand
> and finish. I am trying to mimic the look of inlaid ebony. My
> thoughts were that I could stain some fine sawdust (like from a belt
> sander) and then mix with a clearish glue and paste into the routed
> groves. Or I could use some sort of black resin to fill the gap. The
> resin would need to be able to be sanded and yield a smooth surface.
> Anybody have suggestions here? Thanks
>
Try this to tint epoxy:
http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?familyid=4505&productid=144061
or this:
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=17661&filter=black%20epoxy
Or this:
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Glues,_adhesives/Stewart-MacDonald_Epoxies.html
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Finishing_supplies/Colors,_tints,_and_stains/Inlay_Filler_Colors.html
I've used the last two of these on different occasions when doing inlays
on my guitars, either to glue the inlays into ebony fingerboards, or to
provide a black background for abalone or pearl.
--Steve
Russ <[email protected]> writes:
>Hello all, I am planning on building a dining room table out of maple
>or ash (a white wood). On top of the table I want to get crazy with
>my router and using a 1/8" or smaller bit, make random "ant tracks" on
>the table top (like you might see in an ant farm). Then I want to
>fill these tracks with some resin or black material that I can sand
>and finish. I am trying to mimic the look of inlaid ebony. My
>thoughts were that I could stain some fine sawdust (like from a belt
>sander) and then mix with a clearish glue and paste into the routed
>groves. Or I could use some sort of black resin to fill the gap. The
>resin would need to be able to be sanded and yield a smooth surface.
>Anybody have suggestions here? Thanks
>
Two-part epoxy tinted with artists oils.
scott
"Steve" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I worked on a house awhile back where another contractor was putting in a
> mesquite floor. Mesquite has lots of voids. Some of them were 3/8" wide.
> They filled the voids with black-tinted epoxy, then sanded. It looked
> great.
>
> OT: I was putting in mesquite and aldar trim. Mesquite is the hardest
> thing I've ever worked with. I had to buy a 100-tooth side-beveled
> polishing blade for my miter saw to keep it from chipping. After that, I
> had perfect glue-ready joints.
> --
> Steve B.
> New Life Home Improvement
I put in a ~600 SF of mesquite floor last year in our new addition. I
didn't find it difficult to cut with my normal blade in my SCMS. The rough
part was gluing it down. I was recommended Bostik Best, which is a urethane
glue. Nasty stuff to work with, IMO. I'd rather nail down 5 floors than
glue another one like that. Even one of the flooring pros I had come in to
give me a price to sand said he glued down a wood floor with it once. Once.
By the way, the mesquite I got was a select grade, which required little
filling. My cousin, who is in south Texas and mills a "rustic" grade of
mesquite flooring, also uses epoxy (System 3) and tints it black with
acrylic hobby paint. Mine required very little filling, somewhat to my
dismay. I kind of liked the look of the black with the mesquite, I just
didn't want to spend two days filling like he did when he did his own floor.
todd
Russ <[email protected]> wrote on 01 Oct 2007 in group rec.woodworking:
> Hello all, I am planning on building a dining room table out of maple
> or ash (a white wood). On top of the table I want to get crazy with
> my router and using a 1/8" or smaller bit, make random "ant tracks" on
> the table top (like you might see in an ant farm). Then I want to
> fill these tracks with some resin or black material that I can sand
> and finish. I am trying to mimic the look of inlaid ebony. My
> thoughts were that I could stain some fine sawdust (like from a belt
> sander) and then mix with a clearish glue and paste into the routed
> groves. Or I could use some sort of black resin to fill the gap. The
> resin would need to be able to be sanded and yield a smooth surface.
> Anybody have suggestions here? Thanks
I worked on a house awhile back where another contractor was putting in a
mesquite floor. Mesquite has lots of voids. Some of them were 3/8" wide.
They filled the voids with black-tinted epoxy, then sanded. It looked
great.
OT: I was putting in mesquite and aldar trim. Mesquite is the hardest
thing I've ever worked with. I had to buy a 100-tooth side-beveled
polishing blade for my miter saw to keep it from chipping. After that, I
had perfect glue-ready joints.
--
Steve B.
New Life Home Improvement
Russ <[email protected]> wrote in news:1191246004.099362.64330@
19g2000hsx.googlegroups.com:
> Hello all, I am planning on building a dining room table out of maple
> or ash (a white wood). On top of the table I want to get crazy with
> my router and using a 1/8" or smaller bit, make random "ant tracks" on
> the table top (like you might see in an ant farm). Then I want to
> fill these tracks with some resin or black material that I can sand
> and finish. I am trying to mimic the look of inlaid ebony. My
> thoughts were that I could stain some fine sawdust (like from a belt
> sander) and then mix with a clearish glue and paste into the routed
> groves. Or I could use some sort of black resin to fill the gap. The
> resin would need to be able to be sanded and yield a smooth surface.
> Anybody have suggestions here? Thanks
>
I've used epoxy mixed with printer toner powder. You can adjust the mix
for maximum color and hardness. Toner powder is very light and fluffy, and
can get into/onto everything (almost as bad as airfloat charcoal!). The
other technique is to pack the inlay "groove" with toner and apply a few
drops of CA glue (the thin glue works best). This also results in a very
hard but sandable "inlay".
On Mon, 01 Oct 2007 06:40:04 -0700, Russ <[email protected]> wrote:
>I could use some sort of black resin to fill the gap.
Good quality epoxy (West System)
Phenolic microballoon filler (also West)
Black acrylic paint (cheap artist's stuff)
Scrape or sand afterwards
In article <[email protected]>,
Russ <[email protected]> wrote:
> Hello all, I am planning on building a dining room table out of maple
> or ash (a white wood). On top of the table I want to get crazy with
> my router and using a 1/8" or smaller bit, make random "ant tracks" on
> the table top (like you might see in an ant farm). Then I want to
> fill these tracks with some resin or black material that I can sand
> and finish. I am trying to mimic the look of inlaid ebony. My
> thoughts were that I could stain some fine sawdust (like from a belt
> sander) and then mix with a clearish glue and paste into the routed
> groves. Or I could use some sort of black resin to fill the gap. The
> resin would need to be able to be sanded and yield a smooth surface.
> Anybody have suggestions here? Thanks
I've done this on a number of projects using two-part epoxy, wood dust
and artist oil paint as a tint. One tip--after you route your pattern
put a good seal coat (or two) of shellac on the non-routed parts next to
the "tracks" It's next to impossible to put the tinted epoxy just in the
tracks. Any "spillage" tends to get into the pores of the wood you want
to stay white (especially with open-pore woods such as ash). You can
scrape the sealer off when you scrape/sand you epoxy level.
dp
--
[email protected]
www.brndogwoodworks.com
In article <[email protected]>,
Andy Dingley <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Mon, 01 Oct 2007 06:40:04 -0700, Russ <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >I could use some sort of black resin to fill the gap.
>
> Good quality epoxy (West System)
> Phenolic microballoon filler (also West)
> Black acrylic paint (cheap artist's stuff)
>
> Scrape or sand afterwards
that is what I do for turning (except I use powdered dye from Craft
Supplies USA)
--
--------------------------------------------------------
Personal e-mail is the n7bsn but at amsat.org
This posting address is a spam-trap and seldom read
RV and Camping FAQ can be found at
http://www.ralphandellen.us/rv
"todd" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "Steve" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> I worked on a house awhile back where another contractor was putting in a
>> mesquite floor. Mesquite has lots of voids. Some of them were 3/8" wide.
>> They filled the voids with black-tinted epoxy, then sanded. It looked
>> great.
>>
>> OT: I was putting in mesquite and aldar trim. Mesquite is the hardest
>> thing I've ever worked with. I had to buy a 100-tooth side-beveled
>> polishing blade for my miter saw to keep it from chipping. After that, I
>> had perfect glue-ready joints.
>> --
>> Steve B.
>> New Life Home Improvement
>
> I put in a ~600 SF of mesquite floor last year in our new addition. I
> didn't find it difficult to cut with my normal blade in my SCMS. The
> rough part was gluing it down. I was recommended Bostik Best, which is a
> urethane glue. Nasty stuff to work with, IMO. I'd rather nail down 5
> floors than glue another one like that. Even one of the flooring pros I
> had come in to give me a price to sand said he glued down a wood floor
> with it once. Once.
>
> By the way, the mesquite I got was a select grade, which required little
> filling. My cousin, who is in south Texas and mills a "rustic" grade of
> mesquite flooring, also uses epoxy (System 3) and tints it black with
> acrylic hobby paint. Mine required very little filling, somewhat to my
> dismay. I kind of liked the look of the black with the mesquite, I just
> didn't want to spend two days filling like he did when he did his own
> floor.
>
> todd
>
Yeah, I glued down approx. 1000 sf of floors in my house as well. Used the
Bostick's Best as you describe.
What a messy product!!!! But it sure grabbed those boards and I haven't
seen any issues so I guess it was worth it.
I hate slab on grade houses!!!
Cheers,
cc