Inlaid Half-Blind Isoloc Joint Procedures - Leigh jigs · yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy 2 3 yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy y yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy y ... INLAID HALF-BLIND

Inlaid Half-Blind IsolocJoint Procedures

M CHAPTER 8

I N L A I D H A L F - B L I N D I S O L O C J O I N T P R O C E D U R E S

Chapter 8 M User Guide

46

Chapter ForewordIt’s hard to describe Isoloc joints as plain,but all plain Isoloc joints are routed with asingle cutter; either 5⁄16" or 8mm diameter,as described in the previous chapters.However, by using two different sized cut-ters (1⁄ 4" and 3⁄8", or 6mm and 10mm),an even more unique effect can be pro-duced: inlaid Isoloc joints.

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Use 2 cutters and 1 guidebush

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1 Pin board1 Inlay board1 Socket board

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Rout Inlay board vertically with small cutter.

Rout Pin board vertically with large cutter.

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Glue Pin and Inlay boards end-to-end.

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with Pin Board.

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Re-rout inlaid Pin board in original position with small cutter.

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Rout Socket board horizontally with large cutter.

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way.

Cutting Inlaid Isoloc Joints

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713V

1/4" 3/8" 6mm 10mm

8-1Inlaid Isoloc joints require two cutters,either a 1⁄4" with 3⁄8", or 6mm with 10mm.Only one variable bush (713V) is used.

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8-2Inlay boards should be 3⁄4"[19mm] thick ➀.Any thinner may leave flat spots; any thickerwastes wood. (exceptions see 8-19 and 8-20)

However, scale settings will be set on1⁄32"[1mm] less than inlay board thickness (see8-5).➁ is the Pin Board.➂ is the Socket Board.

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8-3 Inside Corner ExposedPin board material must be at least13⁄16"[21mm] thick to ensure the inlay doesnot show inside the finished corner, as itdoes in this illustration ➀.

However, scale settings will be set on1⁄16"[2mm] less than pin board thickness(see 8-7).



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8-4 Set Up for Joint FitThis test for joint fit is similar to the quick-fit test at 12-11, except two sizes of cutterare used and the test cuts are made on twovertical boards for joining end-to-end.Depth of cut is not critical for this test. It’sbest if you use the same wood species thatyou will be using for the final project. Forinstructional purposes, we’re showing amedium coloured pin board, dark inlayboard, and white socket board.Start with the smaller cutter in the router.

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8-5Move the template to the socket positionO. Set the scale on 1⁄32"[1mm] less thanthe inlay board thickness.Rout the inlay board using the smaller cut-ter ➀. You will be removing 1⁄32"[1mm] ➁less wood than with a “plain” ➂ Isoloc joint.

8-6 Fit the larger cutter to the router.

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8-7Move the template to the pin position N.Set the scale on 1⁄16"[2mm] less than thepin board thickness. See step 8-2.

Do not change the scale setting onany of the following steps. This will ensurean even inlay band thickness on the fin-ished joint.Rout the pin board using the larger cut-ter ➀. You will be removing 1⁄32"[1mm] ➁more wood than with a “plain” ➂ Isolocjoint.

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8-8Test the fit end-on-end between the pinboard and inlay board. Make any necessaryVGS adjustments to achieve the desired fit(See Chapter 4 ) and if necessary, repeatsteps 8-4 through 8-7.

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8-9Having tested with scrap boards, now routthe working boards.

The depth of cut must be set to matchthe final socket board thickness.Leave the scale setting exactly where it is.Glue each inlay board to its pin board end-to-end.



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8-10When the glue is set, saw off the inlay boardsflush with the end of the pin boards.

You will be using two or more speciesof wood with differing grains and moisturecontents. Do not delay the second routingof the inlaid pin boards. Any delay herecould allow shrinkage and cause uneveninlay “strip” thickness in the final assem-bly. See 8-17.

8-11Re-fit the smaller cutter to the router.

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8-12Move the template to the pin position N.Reset the pin boards back in the jig, touch-ing the side stop. Make sure the smallercutter is in the router.The scale settings and cutting depth mustbe exactly as they were for the original pin-board cuts. Now rout all the pin ends usingthe smaller cutter.This leaves the 1⁄16"[2mm] inlay attachedto the pins.

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8-13Re-fit the larger cutter to the router.

8-14Move the template to socket position O.Wood routed horizontally may behave dif-ferently from vertical grain, so rout a testsocket board using the larger cutter. Usethe same wood species as the final projectboard. Test and adjust the final fit if nec-essary. If any VGS adjustment is needed, itwill be very small.

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When the fit is satisfactory, rout all sock-et boards with the larger cutter.

Half -Thickness InlaysIt’s just as easy to make inlays half the thick-ness. If you use a 5⁄16"[8mm] cutter throughsteps 8-11 to 8-14 the inlay strip would beonly half as thick i.e. 1⁄32"[1mm].



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8-16Glue, assemble, and finish in the usual way.

To avoid shrinkage problems notedearlier, do not delay between routing partsand gluing up, particularly on wide boards.See below.

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18-17This is how the shrinkage of an inlaid boardcan cause uneven inlay thickness.The orig-inal pin board and inlay wood ➀ gluedtogether and put aside may contract acrossthe grain ➁. The template does not changesize, so the difference to inlay thickness isprogressively greater as the router moves tothe right ➂.

8-18 ”Shadow“ Inlaid JointsImagine you deliberately offset the inlaidpin board in the jig; for example, you blockedit away from the side stop by 1⁄16"[2mm],as shown here. This will produce spectac-ular shadow effects.Make sure you also block the socket boardaway by the same distance to ensure boardalignment.

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8-19You can also use a different scale setting fora shadow effect. Example ➀ shows the resultof a 1⁄16"[2mm] higher scale setting.

Combining blocking and offset scale set-tings results in effects similar to ➁.Make sure your inlay and pin boards havesufficient thickness for this, as indicated bythe dotted lines on illustration 8-20 below.

8-20For even more spectacular “double inlay”effects, try this:After gluing the first inlay material...

...offset and re-rout the inlaid pin boardwith the small cutter.

Now rout a second, contrasting inlay board,but with the large cutter. Glue this into theinlaid pin board and saw off as before.

Offset and re-rout this double-inlaid pinboard with the small cutter.

Rout the final socket board with the largecutter, glue and assemble.The potential range of effects is limitless.Have fun!



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8-22You cannot move pieces to the left of theside stop, so use a spacer block ➀ equalto one whole joint pattern pitch, minus thedesired offset. In our example, we made thespacer block one pitch minus 1⁄16"[2mm].This will give the matching side to sideresult shown in 8-18 and 8-21.Note: Also see Chapter 10 on joint symmetryand asymmetry.

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8-21 “Shadow“ Joint SymmetryHere’s how to make the shadow joint onthe other end of the socket board match.

Documents

Inlaid Half-Blind Isoloc Joint Procedures - Leigh jigs · yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy 2 3 yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy y yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy y ... INLAID HALF-BLIND