[topic] technique: The manufacturing of an inlaid plank in six steps

[Arnaud Rasing]

[TOC] Table of Contents

The manufacturing of an inlaid plank in six steps

step 1 : Preparation and design

The frontside should have a couple of layers of varnish before we can really start, this facilitates glueing the printed design.

On the computer the design is being transferred to a SVG-file so as to be able to scale it to the measurements of the board.

The final design is printed on several sheets of paper covering the whole board each representing a specific part of the whole design. The sheets are being glued to the board.

step 2 : Gouging

With the aid of whittlings, chisels and gouges letters and/or images are being carved. In general this is labor-intensive.

step 3 : Milling

With a machine (Proxxon or Dremel) the letters and/or images are being milled and grinded.

step 4 : Colour scheme

Choosing the colours is critical because it depends on the basic colour of the wooden wearer and eventual wood-flames.

Above all the design should contrast well in such a way that an attractive entity evolves.

step 5 : Inlay and grinding

The cut away parts of the plank are being filled with woodputty from different colours with spatula. After relative short drying the plank can be grinded or abraded with a sander.

step 6 : Varnishing

Dust and fat needs to be removed from the plank before a couple of varnish-layers are being applied.

For the primary layers a brush is being used and hence on paint rollers for improved distribution of the varnish.

To obtain the best result, more than 5 layers of varnish are being applied whereby grinding occurs with an ever finer grain (up to grain 2000).

Please note

• The above productionmethod is invented by Arnaud de Verfkabouter himself in 2010.