Hey all! I have been working on what I think is a simple inlay for a business card holder. I have the base done and very happy with how it is looking so far. The reversed “W” also looks good after being engraved but… its small?? I am not able to add pictures of the actual pieces this minute but I can later. I attached the 2 files I used to create the pieces in case someone can point out something that I did is obviously wrong. The “W” is about 90% the size of the pocket and and I am at a loss!
Turn off the Inlay Mode on the base. It’s only meant for the male/inlay side.
Without Inlay Mode, the vector that you choose is traced at the Start Depth (Usually 0.0 or top part surface). With the inlay mode, the vector is traced at (Max Depth - Bottom Gap), which should line up with the vector on the base.
I think if you choose a spot to measure the base/female side you’ll find it’s too wide, rather than the male/inlay side being to narrow.
Oh… not that I read what you wrote that makes a lot of sense! I went back to this thread and I now realize that inlay mode is exclusively called out only for the male piece.
And of course the base is what I thought looked so good! Looks like another piece of walnut to get milled down into a coaster.
Thanks for the quick reply and explanation, will be back at it tonight!
I have had problems with gaps in the new inlay mode. When you start at the top of material and the same depth of the female pocket the inlay is the same size as the female pocket so you dont get the inlay to go very deep (non inlay mode). The Vetric method starts at .1 (or close to that) and to the same depth as the female pocket. That makes the inlay slightly smaller than the method of starting at the surface. The builtin inlay method does slightly shrink the male inlay making it fit into the female pocket further to get a good blue surface at the sides of the inlay. The issue with the vetric method is you have a large gap under the inlay so if you dont get a good glue up the inlay can be crushed into the pocket.
Thanks for the advice! I was able to make the piece work after a little trial and error with just the inlay piece. My wife had a good idea to fill the gaps with gold resin so that was another new skill that I got to experiment with!
