Club Meeting: 26 March 2025
Report By Cory Wyatt.

Kerry has been a member of the North Shore Woodturners Guild for 30 years and has developed from turning to many other facets of wood work including making many many boxes with marquetry.

So, what is Marquetry? Google states that Marquetry is the art and craft of applying pieces of veneer to a structure to form decorative patterns or designs.

The Process:

You start with a drawing that you want to make. This is called a Cartoon, this is then transferred to tracing or baking paper.

You next choose your wood, were contrasting colours make the over all image pop. Using tape (you use a lot of tape so have plenty before starting) create a hinge on with the traced image, wood to be cut and a piece of waste wood. Mind the patterns on the wood, burls and grains can be used to develop the image.

The cut the pattern out on the scroll saw. Use tape as needed to stop the wood fluffing. You can complete the same steps over and over and double up on layers of veneer to ensure you pieces match with only a small curf. The curf is the space cut by the blade and explains the small gaps between different pieces.

To cut inner shapes use a small drill bit to cut a whole just bigger than the blade (0.6-0.7mm) and thread the blade through and cut as normal. Here is where a non-pinned blade is easier as a smaller hole is needed for the blade as no pin is present. When drilling, only drill 4-5 holes at once, as they can fill with dust causing issues later.

When all the pieces are ready and taped up turn over and cover in PVA (Tight bond) glue and place on the backing board. Place a small piece of foam and a board and clamp together. Baking paper can be used to ensure the foam does not stick. The foam limits the damage to the veneers.

After 24 hours peel and sand, be careful as the veneer depth is about 0.7mm. Finish as you see fit.

For discussion on pinned vs Pinless blades here is a highly rated Youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suvhnj1yx80