Intarsia Eagle

[jvbscroller]

I made two wooden eagles using pretty much the same pattern.  For these two projects I used my own pattern, rather than a professional pattern.  I wanted a simple pattern that required only 4 pieces of wood for each eagle.   

Here are the two final eagles.  The first eagle is 8.5" wide x 3.5" high.  The second eagle is 10.5" wide by 6.5" high.  

Eagle 1 - final

 

Eagle 2 - final

Pattern for Eagle 1.

 

Pattern for Eagle 2.  Notice it is slightly modified.  I drew more feathers on the eagle's left wing, which is on the right side of the pattern.

 

All the 'in progress' photos below were taken while I was making the first eagle.  I used the same steps making the second eagle.  I used two kinds of wood:  walnut for the wings and body, oak for the head and tail feathers.  

First I glued the pattern to the wood using light duty spray adhesive.  Then I cut the pieces on a scroll saw.

 

 

This shows all four pieces cut, but some are too thick.  I sanded them for the correct thickness on a belt sander.

 

Next step was shaping.  For this step I used a Dremel rotary tool, but mostly files and sandpaper.  Shaping the eye, beak and area around the beak was very challenging.  

 

I glued the parts together.   Please be aware that I did not set them on this plywood board while gluing or while glue was drying.  I put them on a plastic sheet.

I filled gaps with sawdust mixed in glue.  I was able to make dark filler with walnut sawdust and light filler with oak sawdust.   After the glue/sawdust mixture dried, more sanding was required.  

 

Next step was painting talons, beak, and eye.  I have since learned that wood dye works pretty well for intarsia pieces.  Next time I hope to use dye, in order to get better colors.  Last step was two coats of shellac as top coat.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 20, 2020 by jvbscroller
Removed two unnecessary photos.

[wombatie]

Wow, it looks terrific, well done.  And thanks for the extra photos.

Marg

[Tomanydogs]

Great looking eagles. Thanks for showing the process. 

[don watson]

Thanks a bunch for this work in progress and the great pictures. Very inspirational and a different approach.Very well done.

[daveww1]

very nice job

[amazingkevin]

You know how to cut corners doing intarsia!!! Still a lot of work though. Keep your work coming!!!

[jvbscroller]

I used Eagle 1 to complete a project based on Isaiah 40:31 and gave it to a granddaughter.  I used Eagle 2 to complete an Eagles Fly High project and gave it to a son-in-law who is a fan of the Philadelphia Eagles.

 

 

[Ron Johnson]

Awesome!!!