How are small inlays mounted

[5stewart]

The larger inlays are mounted with nails or brads. And I understand wire inlays. But somewhere between the wire inlays and inlays that can be mounted with nails there are small inlays that a nail will not work. How are the very small inlays held in place?
I have a star for an inlay on my cheek rest that can be mounted with the counter sunk nail method but the oval ring that I have inleted around the star is too delicate to mount with nails or etc. What is a common practice for small inlays?

 

[Larry (Omaha)]

Hickorynut, Welcome to the forum
On small inlays, a good way (for me) is take a small finish nail or brad and trim for length. Solder the front end of the brad to the inlay leaving the head to grip into whatever is your favorite adhesive. (I like epoxy) Drill a hole for the brad oversized to make room for adhesive. It also helps to scratch or rough up the back side of the inlay to additionally grab your adhesive.
Flintlocklar :wink:

 

[ohio ramrod]

I use a SMALL amount of epoxy under the inlay. :idunno:

 

[dave_person]

Hi,
First, if your inletting in tight, when the wood is stained and finished, the wood will swell around the inlet and lock it into place. If you use epoxy, which is fine, try to avoid spreading it on the edges of the inlet, which will prevent the wood from swelling. When inletting small inlays, hold them in position with some Scotch tape, place a thin metal ruler over them and tap the ruler with a mallet. The inlay will mark its outline on the wood. Then cut the border closely to the edges of the mark and then undercut the edge very, very, very slightly by stabbing in a small flat chisel. Put a little epoxy in the middle of the inlay if you want and push it into the inlet, place the ruler on top and tap it with your mallet. When the glue is dry, wet the wood with water to swell it around the inlay and dress it off.

dave

 

[jerrywh]

Dave Person has some good advice. Super glue is not a bad idea as long as you don't get any on the surface of the wood especially if the wood is maple.
However many small inlays have no glue at all and stay in place for hundreds of years. They are just held in by a tight fit and the finish like a taper center is held in on a lathe taper. Some top gun makers like David price usually use nothing but a tight fit as well as myself.

 

[5stewart]

Hello and thanks for the welcome.
I'm glad to hear what is the tried and true ways and the tips also. As I said my cheek piece star is large enough to be mounted with nails or brads. I will have to decide which method listed above will be best for me to use on the oval ring around the star.