TOOLS OF THE INLAYER
A good means to have all its tools under the 
hand:to fix at the wall

  Hereafter are indexed the tools or products the most used in marquetry, whatever the technique used.

DRAWING AND DUPLICATION

Drawing tools         Colouring of the drawings to have an idea of the 
colors and wood



For the traditional drawing on copy or paper, propelling pencils of 0,5 mm. Traditional rules, squares, compass in any kind, of which some can be made or adapted. In complement, a drawing table can prove to be useful.

To carry out drafts, it is sometimes useful to color a specimen of the drawing; paintings with water, gouaches, and even pastels can be appropriate.


Old piqueuse exposed to the Academy of the Trades of the 
Wood of Revel Rake modern, source W Patrick Edwards To reproduce the drawings on their exact scale, the use of the photocopy is the most current means, or the pulling of plans for the largest plans.

Formerly, duplication was made by means of a rake. The kraft of reference was placed under the drawing and piqué by means of a fine needle which vibrated, a little like a sewing machine. By means of a dry ink, the drawing was then reproduced by transparency and on a perfectly identical scale several times.
This technique is still however used by means of modern tools ordered by PC.


Drawing assisted by PC To carry out its drawing, it is sometimes very practical to use tools known as of CAD: Drawing Computer-assisted.

Tools of vectorial the drawing type have the advantage of being able to modify a drawing easily, to reduce it or increase it, to use a starting image to carry it out, to print it using fine features (1/10 E of mm).

If one carries out modifications of scale, for another use of the same drawing, one always obtains with the impression of the identical features. That is very practical for marquetry, in order to obtain a better precision.

These vectorial tools offer the possibility of coloriser the drawings to obtain an outline before the work of wood. They also make it possible to draw by superposable copies, so that it is easyto add a plan and to adjust it with its own way.

Moreover, certain tools make it possible to voluntarily modify the drawing, for example to obtain deformations, to make dissolves of several models, from of to extract a filtering for some colors, tonalities, to regulate contrasts...
Example of the CAD in marquetry To click for an example in images


DECOUPAGE

Knives, cutter, lancets...          Rules out of steel, aluminium, squares, saw with 
plating...

That it is for paper or plating, the right cuts and fittings, the knives (or cutter) must have a good catch in hand and the interchangeable or sectile blades. It is always possible to manufacture models of personalized knives, for example using webs to metals, or of irons of planes. Any kind of lancet or carries blades are also employed. The traditional scissors are also used for platings.

Saw with plating:the teeth are reversed

The squares and the rules out of steel or aluminium allow the setting the square or the parallelism of the veneers. The saw with plating has a slightly curved form and teeth with double direction, which allows a sawing towards the interior of the sheet, not to tear off the edges.

The massicot is used to cut out identical bands, if 
plating is not thick            The board with band is used with the knife 
and the saw with plating

 

To manufacture frisages or bands intended for sets of ladies, chess-boards, two tools can be used: The massicot, and the board with band, manufactured artisanalement. These two apparatuses allow identical cuts of size using an adjustable guide.
Small trick of workshop: to avoid the slips of platings, to stick sandpaper under the rules!

PREPARATION OF SAWING

Preparation of the packages, a long and 
ungrateful work

There are several solutions which ensure the maintenance of the layers of platings, that there acts of method element by element, Boulle, or of "wood Painting". It is essential that the layers do not slip between them, even at the end of the cutting. This to obtain identical cuts, for a perfect assembly. On a bottom in Ayous of 2 mm, it is possible to fix the "sandwich" using points with platings, very fine and breakable.

The use of fasten is also very solid, provided that fasten them can penetrate through our package. Gummed paper makes it possible to repair certain split sheets as to consolidate the maintenance by fasten in the angles and on the edges. Gummed paper or sticking paper can also be used only, but the longevity of the solidity of the packages is less.

Drilling with the mini drilling machine, the hand:essence is to allow the passage of the blade            Gross of Hegner blades

Drillings for the passages of the blades can be made using an electric drilling machine or with hand.

Reference and dimension of blades HEGNER "Pébéco" length 13 cm and 16 cm:

Number Depth (mm) Sees (thickness, feature of cut, in mm)
00 0,52 0,25 (either 1/4 of mm)
0 0,60 0,26
1 0,65 0,30
2 0,75 0,32
3 0,80 0,34 (either 1/3 of mm)
4 0,85 0,36
5 1,20 0,38

In method element by element, I generally use blades Pébéco N° 3
The blades are marketed per dozen or 12 X 12, called "gross"

SAWING

Saw delta-40540p             Saw Hegner multicutquick

Two traditional machines of the market are shown here:

See the co-ordinates of the suppliers bonds page.

Saw of type Julia version 2             Small Dremel saw modified

My two saws are presented: model JULIA N° 2 (see special page with this tool) realized on measurement, swan neck of 80 cm, and saws DREMEL, collar of 38 cm, modified so much on the level of the plate; removable, that blade and of its fixing, piétement, the addition of a variator and a halogenous lamp.

Saw with framework presented at the Conservatoire des métiers du Bois in Revel (31)           Rest (chevalet) of marquetry of W. Patrick Edwards


Many models of saw are possible of use to carry out cuttings of platings. It is of course also possible to make to oneself even the tool of its choice, which is appropriate with the noise of the machine, the dimension of the reasons to be realized, the place available...
Saw with ceiling light, old saw with 
framework and rest, photo W Patrick Edwards          Ceiling Saw and Rest (Chevalet) at W. Patrick Edwards school, in San Diego (California)


Examples of models whose plans are described in the book of Pierre Ramond: On the machines of the type to framework and ceiling light, the recall of the blade is assured either by a leaf spring wood, or a strong tubular spring. In the 2 cases, vertical guides must always maintain the blade in the axis.


TIERSOT Machine, pertaining to Patrick Delarme         Rest (Chevalet) of inlayers at School BOULLE, photo W 
Patrick Edwards         Saw with ceiling light of School BOULLE, photo W 
Patrick Edwards


One sees here a machine TIERSOT of XIXe still used by Patrick Delarme. This treadle machine allows, in more of the oscillatory movement of the blade, the rotation of a mobile wick, which one sees on the side.
The two other sights are those of the School BOULLE, Paris.


 

SHADE OR BROWNING

The shovels with ombrer, tweezers and 
heated fine sand allow a good browning of wood

A simple old woman frying pan on any type of stove makes the deal very well.
The sand known as of Fontainebleau must be very fine.
One finds it on certain beaches of river or pond, with the career of Fontainebleau? or in the bird-catchers.
To soak the parts without burning itself, all kinds of tweezers are appropriate; personally, I use long grips used in surgery known as haemostatic. Those present a notch of stop not to let escape the small parts.
The shovels with ombrer presented here are in fact of the equivocal flattened out of copper, bus storing better the heat, provided with a long stem and a handle out of wooden. They allow a browning of the concave round forms.
The use of masks private individuals, or funnels are also used in quite precise cases.



ASSEMBLY

Tweezers, pins fine, sticking paper are 
enough in my case

Tweezers, points fine, sticking papers, plywood support or carpet sécial. Such are the tools that I use for the provisional maintenance of my parts.



Pot at double bottom for hot adhesive, source P. 
Delarme Assembly on tended hold, with the hot adhesive, 
source P. Delarme

Another older but very current method consists in the manufacture and the joining of the parts on a "tended hold": one covers a plywood with tepid water a kraft paper coated beforehand. This makes it possible the kraft to inflate, and the edges of this one are stuck to the back of the panel. While drying, the hold is tightened, and the parts are stuck to a top with the glue which gets busy with the bain-marie, mixture 3/4 sticks bones and 1/4 adhesive of nerve (conditioned in pastilles) seeming most usually employed.


JOINING A The PRESS

Traditional screw clamps are enough for 
small sizes            Press out of sawn timber made up of 7 
frames

If for small tables some good screw clamps are enough, for larger parts, it is essential that the pressure is strong in any point: The press presented here in alder and ash solid masses, consists of 7 frames of 5 jacks each one, and has a passage of 85 cm.

Press wood and steel of 40 jacks of W Patrick 
Edwards, California Frame in IPN, P. Delarme


Other frames largely used are wood manufactured or IPN in shape of H, and the threaded rods of strong diameter.

Kit R-PRESS vacuum proposed by company RBE Vacuum press proposed by www.qualityvak.com

To plate curved parts, for example objects, frontages of drawers, curved doors, the vacuum press is a good modern means.
One places the parts under a pocket vynil of some dizièmes of mm thickness, one adds if possible contreformes to our object, then the vacuum press makes the remainder; the adhesive is either stretched by the press, but is aspired by the pores of wood, initially.
The problems arising for this type of joining are the drainage of the air using rules or fabric "lung", the protection of the bags by plastic pockets to avoid the tasks of adhesive, and to be able to proportion the aspiration of the adhesive in the pores of the support, in order not to burst the wooden support.
Very useful in stringed-instrument trade, but impossible to use for hollow parts, because the depression can break the objects.
See use in CTM N° 1, by Christophe Planchon. Purchase: to see links page


SANDPAPERING AND COMPLETIONS

Sharpening of the scrapers, teases 
steel...              Two types of grinders and the sandpapers

One sees here several types of scrapers, of which artisanal scrapers manufactured starting from ULTRA webs, of the ends of webs to ribbon.
The sharpening of these scrapers is not really simple, and a good blow of hand is necessary; and even with the practice, sometimes one can miss the wire very well by the scraper.
The tools for sharpening are a stone with oil as well as an ad hoc lubricant, an oilstone, old third point without tooth, a piece of tallow of candle for the corrosive one.

The steel 000 wool is also used for the completions.
The electric grinder most practical is the eccentric grinder, which combines the rotary movements, and eccentric. Progressive speed by support and the dust extraction make a perfect tool of it.
The finishing sander can also be used.

The grains of current papers to trim are 80 to 240.

Completion in pyrogravure             Products to be waxed, varnish...

An iron to be pyrographed can be used to carry out the signatures and other small features.
This one can easily be replaced by kerfs filled then.

The varnishes and the waxes are a chapter with whole share in the art of marquetry.
The grains of current papers go from 400 to 4000. Let us quote simply some completions usually used:



Retour Home Page