Diamond inlay banding

S

sstocker

Member
Can anyone explain the process of making a diamond inlay banding similar to the one shown in a Carlyle Lynch drawing of a Hepplewhite Chest of Drawers in Traditional Furniture Projects by The Best Fine Woodworking? The banding runs around the base of the chest.
 
Glue up 2 mahogany and 1 holly strip 3/16 x 2 x about 24". Crosscut 3/16 pieces at 60* and glue up into a log. Plane the top and bottom to a flat surface. Glue on 1/16 x 2" holly top and bottom. Slice into 1/16" thick strips an the band saw.
 
Thanks  for responding. Once I've glued the 3-layered stack, are you suggesting that I crosscut the stack every 3/16" at 60 degrees? I don't understand how to glue the crosscut pieces "into a log". I have a mental picture of the procedure for when I've made a herringbone banding but this diamond banding still escapes me. More help please?
 
It's like a herringbone except that instead of laying the sliced faces down, you stand them up and glue sawcut to sawcut. This glue-up is your log. It will have triangular points on the top and bottom which you will plane off to get gluing faces for your outside holly.
 
How do you plane off the triangular points on top and bottom? The glued-up stack seems so fragile. Any pressure would cause breakage at the glue joints, especially since it's end grain to end grain. Maybe I'm still doing something wrong. I think I'm on the right track as I can see the pattern within the glued-up stack.
 
Actually, as long as they are lined up, you can face it on the tablesaw or bandsaw. If you have a drum sander you can run it through that.

If you want to plane the block, do it side to side and back it up with scrap to prevent blowout on the back side. Once iou have the peaks knocked down you can plane lengthwise.

If tou make the two pieces of mahogany thicker, say 1/4", the peaks will come down with material to spare.
 
I understand now. I made a short length today and was able to use a sharp smooth plane to knock off the tips. I planed it along the length of the piece. I realized in doing this that a belt sander clamped upside down in the bench vise would produce similar results without the nerves. Thank you all for the advice.
 
Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words so I've attached the sequence I would use. Someone mentioned that it is like making herringbone which is true except the grain is oriented differently--it runs from diamond tip to tip. If you were to cut it with the grain running out the side, like herringbone, it would be more fragile. Since the grain runs with the length of the finish banding, you have to plan ahead. In my description, there will be alot of waste, but you are always working with larger (longer) pieces. You also have the option of making a second complimentary banding. As with any banding, thicker stock yields more pieces without creating more work.
 
Freddy,

The blank that you rip from in step 1 doesn't need to be that wide. Since everything is slip matched in step 3, this is what determines the width of the blank that the banding billets are cut from. A piece of 8/4 stock (of each specie) 4"wide x 4' long would be ideal and could yield enough banding to decorate several chests. If a wider blank is desired, glue up a wider piece from quartersawn stock.
 
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