So I’ve noticed that when I’m making pieces with an inlay, usually the darker wood ends up darkening / staining the lighter and making the inlay contrast pretty minimal. It’s not as bad when the inlay is the darker wood (since there’s less of it), but using a maple inlay on something like walnut or elm causes the lighter inlay to darken considerably. I was just curious what others had done to keep the nice contrast?
Currently when I remove the plug I will leave about 1mm just so I have a margin for error, then sand down the last 1mm with a combination of belt and hand sanding. Then I’ll usually hit it with some air and a clean rag to remove any dust before adding oil or some other finish.
Some options I’ve considered:
Instead of leaving 1mm and sanding, maybe just running a surfacing pass to remove the entire plug and maybe an extra .2mm or something. Then finish with minimal sanding.
Maybe some temporary coating or something I could add to prevent the dust from getting into pores of the lighter wood?
Just curious what ya’ll had done and what has worked well for you?
Some woods transfer to lighter woods. Paduk is one wood that will transfer from the internal oils in the wood. So seal your work before finishing. I use Zinsser Universal Sanding Sealer (dewaxed shellac). That is aclohol based and seals the wood before applying a finish. Oil based finishes are usually mineral spirit based and help to dissolve oils and then they get transferred on to other lighter woods, I use a glue brush to put the zinsser into carved work and wipe it clean and reuse them. I store the acid brush on top of the can with a can opener. It is stiff but just a dip in the shellac and brushing it on a rag loosens up the brush.
Learn to use a card scraper. You will be amazed at how well the color stays. Since it is producing a shaving and not powdery sawdust all the color stays. I also use a low angle block plane to level stringing and inlay.