Official Luthiers Forum!

I am at a loss. I did a practice run on a scrap board. Not as easy as I thought. Can some one suggest a you tube video. I can afford any books right now. I don't want to cut into my fret board untill I can get it right. Thanks.

john Hall's(Blues Creek? CRAP can't remember) videos are great, as are Robbie O'Brien's, plus check Stu-Mac's tutes. What are you doing? dots? shapes? snowflakes? type of timber for the fretboard? Dark woods like EIR and Ebony are very forgiving with dust and epoxy filling....

Zebra Wood. Shapes. ( kind of diamond shape )

Zebra wood will be a challenge for your first inlay. I'd suggest ebony or something more dark and consistent. But if you are dead set on the zebra wood I'd suggest lots of practice. Slow and steady, lots of light and magnification.

I have to go with Zebra wood because I already glued it on. I wasn't thinking. It is my first build.

Tack glue it in place, with whatever, as you'll rout it off anyway. SCORE deeply, using a brand new stanley knife blade, or similar. Come from the points to the middle on each side.

Get the magnifier glasses, if you can, and rout out with a dremel, lam. trimmer and little bit, else, with an inlay that size you ought to be able to clear it out with a really sharp and small chisel. Trim out only up to your score line and glue in with epoxy mixed with dust. Done deal. You can do it, just take your time....

Indeed, those shapes should be pretty easy.

I mark with a sharp pointed scribe rather than a knife... not deeply, just a visual mark. You can get closer to the edge of the piece, which makes for more accurate routing. But a knife will work if that's all you have. And in softwoods, I do make an additional pass with a knife to deepen the marks, because the alternating hard and soft grain lines in softwoods make routers jumpy.

For this particular pattern, you might route to right near the lines, and then finish the edges of the pockets with a chisel. Chisels are good at cutting straight lines... routers not so much. But routers are good at making consistent depth pockets, so better to clear out the majority of the waste that way.