How to Make Picture Frames with Wood Inlay

The Problem…
When you want to apply quality wood inlay to your woodworking projects…where will you get it? What designs will you get? How much will you have to pay for it?
The Solution…
We use our woodworking skills and make our own wood inlay in the workshop. (We will make our own picture frame moulding too!)

In this post we sharing how to make picture frames with wood inlay. As you seen in previous postings we have been busy creating bandings of shop made wood inlay. There are a variety of wood inlay designs now available for our use at this time. So now we are in the process of creating picture frame moulding that has a dado which will house the wood inlays. The moulding was created on the tablesaw and on the router table using a 3/4″ round over bit with a ball bearing guide.

The gallery of pictures reveal the set up for operations on the table saw and for the band saw. (The router table was set up with the fence and featherboards as well.)

All the wood inlay bandings are cut to a uniform thickness of just a hair over 1/16″ as measured by a dial caliper. The set up that you see allows for control of this uniform thickness. The shop made bandsaw rip fence has been adjusted for band saw blade “drift” and the Rockler thin rip table saw jig with a roller bearing is set to the desired thickness for the wood inlay bandings. Note: The jig remains stationary for this operation and the rip fence is adjusted before each rip cut is made. Simply slide the material over against the bearing on the right and then slide the rip fence alongside the left side of the material to be ripped. This technique works wonderfully. 1.) Maximize the material as there is very, very little waste! 2.)All ripped bandings are of uniform thickness!

The pictures of the table saw operation reveal a sacrificial fence for the dado blade. Notice how the featherboards control how the material will be maintained during the cut. The is no upward or lateral movement. The only direction for the wood is forward. (This is also applies to the band saw ripping technique…just one direction of movement…forward!)

We can also see the variety of wood inlays in the dados of the picture frame moulding. It’s nice to have a variety of choices from which to select. (The mouldings are made from a tropical wood called Cumala.)

Recommended Videos…Cutting Thin Strips on the Band Saw

…Making Wood Inlay on the Bandsaw

Check out exquisite wood inlay designs…Buffard Freres…The 1926 Wood Inlay Banding Catalog

The Apprentice and The Journeyman University

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