I will cut and inlay the stems first. The stems are white oak. I place a piece of white oak under the trace paper along with some carbon paper and use a small wood dowel sharpened at one end to trace the pattern to the oak. I then use a fret saw to cut the pattern, trying to maintain a 90 degree edge. I then take a small file to clean as well as bevel the edge. The bevel will ensure a tight fit later. The trick is not to file the fingers!
The center splat has a fairly pronounced curve where these stems will go. I cannot simply bend these stems to the curve without risk of splitting. Consequently, I will dry bend these stems around a hot pipe nipple. Normally, bending kiln dried wood is a no-no. However, I am not bending too much here. Works like a charm.
I then apply double stick tape to the bottom and position the stem on the splat. I prefer to use a surgeon scalpel rather than a hobby knife. The scalpel is a lot stiffer but just as sharp. Since these stems are so narrow I need to be careful and not push too hard against the stem which may reposition the stem and mess up my scribe line. Some folks use hobby glue to secure small pieces. Then they use acetone to clean the area up. I have not tried this technique. I'm not a fan of acetone so I've been reluctant.
Once it is traced I route the pattern with a dremel and a carbide downcut spiral bit purchased from www.stewmac.com:
I use the scalpel with an older blade to clean out the tight corners at the bottoms. Now I glue them in!
Here is what they look like after hand planing. The edges are nice and tight because I had beveled the sides of the stems. Nonetheless, there are about 2-3 small gaps here and there. I use a toothpick and place a small dab of glue in the gap. I then sand the area with 220 grit sandpaper. The dust mixes with the glue and fills the gap. I then follow with a damp cloth to clean the surrounding area. Works great for small gaps.
Now it's time for the tulips. I believe the original Blacker House arm chair used purple heart for the tulips. Since bubinga is quite red I decided to use walnut instead for better contrast. Here I am in the process of cutting one of the tulips:
These rascals are pretty small and difficult to handle. After a couple attempts I try leaving the tulip connected to the waste wood for a better grip. This allows me to clean and bevel most of the edge without filing my finger tips!
As with the stems I use double stick tape as a backing and a scalpel knife to trace the pattern followed with the dremel and small carbide downcut spiral bit. Another thing I forgot to mention. I wear an optivisor to see what I am doing. With an optivisor I can literally kiss the line with the bit and see the scribe line flake away. I've got total control here.
Here I found that a small 2/3 carving chisel works well for cleaning the corners.
Holy tulips, those hands are dry! The weather has been cold and dry here in southern Oregon.
I will not install the tulips yet. Because they will remain slightly proud to the surface I will install the silver specs below the stems first - I don't want the proud tulips to interfere with the silver inlay process. I am using argentium silver wire. I use a small hammer to flatten the wire a bit.
I then snip them to the desired length using electrical wire cutters. Then I position the small piece of silver at the desired location. Then I vigorously tap the small wire. I do not bounce the hammer as the piece will then go flying. I hammer down and leave it positioned on the silver. The goal is to create a small dent in the wood. I'm using a hammer that has a pillowed surface on one side which greatly reduces the chance of dinging the surrounding wood.
Here are all the indents highlighted with a pencil. Needless to say, it's also important to keep track of which silver piece goes where.
Now I clean the area out with a dremel. Note the small carbide downcut spiral bit. This one is pretty small and works great for this task.
The silver still doesn't quite fit. However, I can get the silver seated pretty well which allows me to use the scalpel to expand the edges as necessary:
Once fitted I place a small dab of gel super glue in the hole and press the silver in. I may lightly tap with a hammer as well. Some of the super glue may ooze out. I find that the gel stuff is much easier to work with as it does not penetrate so deep in the wood - it cleans up easily later with sandpaper.
I use 220 grit sand paper to round over the silver. I simply sand the entire are with the sandpaper, working the edges and corners of the silver good. Silver dust will get in the wood. However, a vacuum and wet toothbrush cleans the surrounding wood fine. Then I tape around the silver and use 600 grit sandpaper for polishing. I do not want this sand paper to hit the wood. It will burnish the wood which will be very noticeable, especially after the finish is applied. One could go to higher grits for polishing. However, I think the 600 grit looks pretty good so I call it quits.
Now I finally install the tulips. I clean the glue off immediately with a damp cloth and toothbrush. Generally speaking, I'm one to clean glue up immediately. I plane the tulips down with a hand plane leaving them proud a light 1/32. I follow with 220 grit sand paper to round over the edges to give them a pillowed surface. Once again, there were 1-2 small gaps here and there. I placed a small dab of glue in the gap and sanded the area to fill in the gap, followed with a damp cloth.
Now its time to glue the back together! I'll do that in the next post.
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