With wood as your medium and a few common shop tools, you’ll be filling your palette with enough colors to create your own unique work of art.
Intarsia (in täŕ sē ә) To inlay or incrust. A style of decorative or pictorial inlay, especially of the Italian renaissance, involving a mosaic of wood pieces or, sometimes, ivory, metal, etc.
This intarsia mountain scene is a classic case of planning one thing on paper, but achieving something else entirely.
I originally envisioned a winter scene, and had included several trees with snow-laden branches in the foreground. Because my drawing didn’t represent what was in my head, I redid those trees at least a dozen times before realizing it wasn’t the trees I didn’t like, but the fact that they were covering up the mountains in the background. Refocusing on the mountains led to the project presented here.This is one of the things I like most about an intarsia adventure. Nobody knows what the original was supposed to look like, for all they see is the end result.
Getting started
Start by taping the pattern onto a flat work surface. If your work surface isn’t flat, your finished piece won’t be either.
Wood selection is the most important part of any intarsia project, so on the pattern on page 42 you’ll see letters on each section with color suggestions: D – Dark; MD – Medium Dark; M – Medium; L – Light.
For example, to simulate snow you could choose aspen, holly, ash or another light-colored species. For darker tones, use cedar, oak or walnut. Also consider grain direction, and take advantage of natural curves whenever possible.
For the river, I chose what is called blue-stain pine because of its many tones. Blue-stain pine is very versatile and can be used for water scenes as well as simulating a cloudy sky. (Editor’s note: To learn more about naturally stained wood, see “Woodsense” on Page 82.)
There are many species, color tones and grain patterns to consider when doing intarsia, so don’t be afraid to experiment with whatever you have in your scrap barrel.
When selecting wood, keep in mind the perspective of the scene disappearing into the distance. The individual pieces can vary somewhat, but will generally go from 1" thick for pieces at the bottom, to 1/2" thick at the top.
The cutting process
It’s usually best to start an intarsia workpiece in the middle, so we’ll begin with the riverbank.
Lay a piece of tracing paper over the pattern and trace the riverbank, including the arrow showing the grain direction (Fig. 1). Notice that I extended the tracing about 1/4" past the outer edge; this gives a bit of waste when truing the bottom curve of the completed workpiece later on a disk sander. By “outer edge,” I mean only the edges of the half circle, not the top edges of the project. Cut the traced paper to a manageable size. Look through your potential stock to find a piece suited for the riverbank, keeping in mind that since you are starting in the middle, your wood should be about 3/4". I chose a piece that had nice grain lines with a slight curve to them. Spray a light mist of adhesive onto the paper. Let the spray set per manufacturer’s directions, then adhere it to your stock.
Affix clear packing tape onto the adhered paper, covering the cut lines (Fig. 2). Packing tape acts as a lubricant to prevent burning, helps prolong blade life, and makes it easier to remove the paper in one piece.
Staying directly on the line, cut the piece out on a scroll saw with a #5 standard blade (Fig. 3). This can also be done on a bandsaw with a scroll blade or very thin regular blade.
After peeling the paper off the cut piece, you may notice a small burr on the bottom. Lightly sand these burrs off to ensure that all pieces lie flat on the work surface. If a piece doesn’t lie flat, it can offset the next piece and create gaps.
Sand the edges on a spindle sander to ensure you have a smooth 90-degree gluing surface, and put the piece back in place on the pattern. Slide tracing paper under the piece, using its edge as a guide to trace the top part of the river section – this will give you an exact match on that side when cutting the next piece – then trace the remainder of the pattern piece freehand (Fig. 4). Again, extend the line 1/4" past the outer edge.
Transfer the traced pattern piece to your chosen stock as before, cut the piece out and repeat the steps you took for the riverbank. The two pieces should now fit together fairly well (Fig. 5). Try to leave no more than a blade’s-width gap in the seams. If your pieces don’t fit properly, make a mark where some additional sanding might be needed and adjust as necessary. Remove only a little stock at a time, checking the fit frequently.
Set the riverbank piece aside for now, leaving the river in place on the pattern. Now is a good time to gather the wood selections you will want for your mountains and snow. In the background, I used red oak for the right sides of the mountains to simulate the sunshine on the eastern slopes, and brown oak for a shadowing effect on the western slopes. Some white ash in the middle will simulate snowy slopes, while a little aspen works nicely for the two small peaks. For the mountains in the foreground I chose thicker stock of walnut and aspen to give added contrast to the whole picture. As you can see, the mountains on the pattern are formed in groups, so let’s consider these mountain groups as sections.
Using the river section as your guide, trace, transfer and cut mountain #3. Fit the mountain to the river, and take both pieces to the spindle sander. Grasp both pieces tightly and use the sander to even up the edge seams till flush (Fig. 6). Place the pieces back onto the pattern and join them with masking tape to prevent them from moving around while you continue tracing (Fig. 7). Using the thicker pieces of aspen and walnut, cut, fit and tape mountain group #4 by starting from the rightmost piece in the group and working to the left, giving you two edges to use as a guide to trace the next piece in line. Make an arrow where the guide lines are (Fig 8).
Once mountain group #4 has been cut and taped together, move on to mountain groups 5, 6 and 7. Start from the left now and work your way to the right, utilizing grain direction and remembering to always leave that extra 1/4" stock on the outer edge. Fig. 9 shows the bottom section complete and taped.
To begin work on the top of the workpiece, remove the whole bottom section from the pattern, leaving the riverbank in place. We used 3/4" stock for the riverbank, so cut mountain groups 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 from 3/4" stock; mountain groups 13 and 14 from 5/8"; and mountain groups 15 and 16 from 1/2", This will make the mountains in the foreground appear closer than those in the background.
With the riverbank in place on the pattern, slide the tracing paper underneath like you did for the bottom sections. Using the riverbank as your guide, trace, cut and fit mountain groups 8, 9 and 10.
For mountain group 11, start with the two light-colored middle sections then cut and fit the two darker outer sections. Cut, fit and tape mountain groups 12 and 13 in the same manner (Fig. 10). Whenever possible when choosing wood, try to find a piece grained with natural curves as in Fig. 11. Darken the grain lines so you can see them better through the tracing paper, making it easier to line up the pattern with the direction. This piece can be used to give a sloping appearance to the left side of mountain group 12 (Fig. 12).
Start mountain group 14 from the top-right section, then the middle, and the left section last. Finish up by cutting mountain groups 15 and 16. Now that all pieces have been cut and fitted, you can remove all the tape and assemble the project onto the pattern.
Contouring and shaping
Contouring and shaping each individual piece is one of my favorite parts in constructing an intarsia project. A spindle sander or a sanding drum in a drill press is the best way to go.
Start from the top and work your way to the bottom. I used the spindle sander to give a good rounding over to the top edges of mountain groups 15 and 16 (Fig. 13), saving the bottom edges of all pieces for later. Go to mountain group 14. Start with the left section and give the top a good rounding over. Put the contoured section back onto the pattern and make a mark on the adjoining section where the two seams meet (Fig. 14). Contour that section up to the end of the mark you just made and place it back onto the pattern.
On mountain groups 11, 12 and 13 you may need to make two marks on some of the longer adjoining sections that touch more than one mountain group (Fig. 15). Round over the top of the section between the marks, then contour mountain groups 12 and 13 in the same manner, and give the tops of mountain groups 8, 9 and 10 a slight roundover. Skip the riverbank and river sections for now, and round over the tops of the lower mountain groups in the same manner as the upper groups.
Now it’s time to tie all the mountain groups and river sections together by contouring the bottoms of each piece. Pencil a line a bit below the edge of mountain group 4 where it slides behind mountain group 5 (Fig. 16). Rough sand the edge just past the line and check the fit.
The important thing is to give the appearance that the mountain groups in back slip behind the groups in front. Continue in this way until you have completed mountain groups 3, 5, 6, and 7. Once the bottom is complete, move back to the top and complete the sanding on any pieces needing it. The top and bottom edges of the riverbank and river should have just a slight roundover. When all rough sanding is done, switch to a higher-grit sleeve on the sanding drum and do all edges again. The contour lines within each mountain group should get just a slight rounding to bring out the sloping effect.
Now is the time to take a good look at all pieces of the project and determine if any more contouring is needed. When you’re satisfied with the look, finish-sand everything. On softer woods such as the aspen and cedar I usually stop with 220-grit, while most hardwoods are fine with 180-grit when sanding with the grain. On areas that can’t be sanded with the grain, use 220-grit.
Time to glue
Remove all pieces from the pattern and cover it with a sheet of waxed paper. The paper lets you see the pattern, and it’s easily removed from the back of the project after gluing.
Because no dowels or screws are used to hold an intarsia project together, use a good-quality wood glue. While good for other uses, avoid polyurethane glues for intarsia; they can foam up out of the seams and create a real mess. Speaking of messes, if your glue bottle doesn’t have a fine tip, transfer some to a smaller bottle – such as an eye-drop bottle – for better control when applying glue.
Start gluing in the middle. Apply a small bead of glue to the very bottom edge of the riverbank as in Fig. 17, place it and the river onto the waxed paper in line with the pattern, and lightly press them together (Fig. 18). If you get squeeze-out from the top seam, you’ve used too much glue. Be sure to wipe off any excess glue, and adjust how much you use.
Now it’s just a matter of gluing each piece to the next until the entire project is edge-glued together. When the glue has dried thoroughly, turn the project over and peel off the waxed paper. Rub a bit of glue into any open seams on the back side with a fingertip to fill any gaps.
Once dry, sand the entire back surface with 80-grit paper to remove the thicker glue spots, followed by 150-grit to finish-sand the back. True up the bottom curve on the disk sander until the entire half-circle edge flows continuously (Fig. 19). Remove any sanding marks left by the disk sander and lightly sand off any sharp edges by hand.
Finishing up
Because most of my work is photographed for catalogs and magazine articles, I prefer a matte or satin finish. I’ve also found that because intarsia is three-dimensional, brush-on finishes are difficult to use. Further, intarsia is frequently hung near windows where it is subjected to direct sun. For all of these reasons, I like to use an indoor/outdoor spray-on spar urethane with a satin finish.
In a well-ventilated area, put the workpiece back-side up and evenly spray a first coat. When the back is dry, lightly sand with 220-grit sandpaper and repeat until you’re satisfied with the results, especially on the endgrain. When the back has dried completely, flip over and spray the front, once again sanding lightly between coats. I always spray at least three coats on the front.
If you plan to hang your project on a wall, locate and mark a pivot point on the back where the weight is evenly distributed. A simple saw-tooth hanger works fine. While there are a lot of individual parts to this project (or any intarsia project, for that matter), each component is easily made. Completing each part and assembling it into a beautiful whole is simply a matter of patience.
Robert T. Letvinchuck
Robert T. Letvinchuck is a self-taught wood artisan who creates custom works of art and patterns for intarsia enthusiasts, which he sells through various catalogs and at www.againstthegrainwoodart.com. Letvinchuck and his wife Terry reside in Fond du Lac, Wis.
Tools used in this project
Scroll saw with #5 standard blade, spindle sander, disk sander, palm sander.
Matieral
Assortment of hardwoods and softwoods in various shades, from light to dark
Assorted grits of sandpaper
Masking tape
Wood glue
Waxed paper
Spray finish of choice
Specialty hardware/supplies:
Spray adhesive, #146046, $8.99
Saw-tooth hangers, #27K01, $2.99
(pkg. of 25)
Source:
Woodcraft Supply
(800) 225-1153
woodcraft.com
