My Current Attempt at Intarsia

[Scrappile]

One of the first intarsia projects I saw and one that made me want to try  intarsia is one called "A Furious Lady".   I saw it in a Creative Woodworks and Crafts  Magazine, March 2010 edition. Kept the magazine and its pattern for years thinking I would try it some day. Some day is here. I started the project a couple weeks ago.   Got all the pieces cut out a couple of days ago.. Then recut a few because I did not like the color after putting the pieces together... Now I am ready to start shaping the pieces, which to me is the hardest part.. I do not have a good eye for it. But we will see how it turns out.  This is it with the pieces cut out.  Hope I do not screw it up too much shaping the pieces.  Anyone having suggestions, criticism as I go, please feel free to comment.  I am in training.

 

 

Edited June 11, 2023 by Scrappile

[wombatie]

So far so good.  Yeah it's the shaping they got me too.  Good luck.

Marg

[don watson]

Great work and it is the sanding/shaping I hate also.

[Brianr24]

I know ur a master on the saw so ur not going to have to worry about gaps 

when shaping my suggestion is don’t try to get too fancy just softly round over all ur edges. I like to set my adjustable square to a depth maybe 3/16 or 1/4 depending on thickness of ur project as put pencil marks just to keep u roughly on track 

start with ur back round pieces first and work out probably neck feathers to beak good luck 

[ScollSaw Slasher]

Haven't done much intarsia lately because of COPD, but first you have to realize that much is in the eye of the beholder, YOU. With your pattern, obviously the beak and surrounding area with shims or not  will be the most prominent so I would start there with minimal rounding over. Then on to the feathers where everything would be flared back, especially the forehead area. This would best be done by sections with sanding shims and two sided tape to get a uniform taper or round back . If you try each individual piece for this, all of a sudden you've sanded one too much or another too little. Get to be a dog chasing it's tail. Then when your happy with the overall shape, it's time to fine tune the individual pieces remembering the whole time that you can't add back. So slow but sure. Now you have to realize (artistic expression) that some really like to round over a lot and others a minimum or somewhere in between. There is no exact amount needed to be an official intarsia geek. Take your time and have fun. It's actually a pretty tough pattern.

[rjweb]

Paul, that’s looking good, RJ 

[Scrappile]

What I find interesting, I purchased Judy Gale Roberts intarsia video.  I have only watched it once but I think it is a good video well worth the price for someone starting out, like me, as is the scrolling for accuracy one by her husband.  But it is different instruction from most of the advice I have been receiving here.  The main difference is she recommends starting with the lowest point and working up.  Which is were I started and now will have to continue.  But It also tells me that different strokes for different folks.  Being I am so new to this that  means there are multiple answers so that gives me license to try many things.  I do not know how this will turn out.   Probably means those that are not into intarsia will think it is Wow, those with intarsia experience will have input on how to improve.. Be it known I relish constructive input so feed me as much as you like, it will not fall on deaf ears.  Well I have one not to bad ear and one the hears very little.. My wife stands on the side of the one that is legally deaf....  HuH!  But know I come here to try to help others starting out in scrolling and to learn.. the more I think about scrolling, the more I know I have to learn.  Please feel free to teach me.

[GPscroller]

Looking good so far Paul.  Here is my version of "Furious Lady" that I did back in 2011 (hard to believe 11 years).  I burned the eyes for the black and I used aspen for the white.  Discovered that if you sand the aspen with steel wool, it gives it a nice grey hue.  I likes it for the contrast.  I, like everyone else, dislike the shaping process, but the more time you spend shaping the better the results.  Take your time and enjoy her, it is a tough project.

Jeff

Edited June 14, 2023 by GPscroller

[Scrappile]

great job!  I hope mind come out half as good.

[meflick]

Looking good Paul. I learned from JGR from the beginning so I do it her way as you described. I also hav e those same two videos and agree, Both are great. She starts at the lowest point and works her way up so as to insure that you are not taking off too much from each piece which can easily occur if you start at top and go down not leaving enough wood to shape. She also does not “round-off” pieces b it aggressively sands and shapes for depth and dimension to give her pieces a natural look and feel. It helps that she has a great artistic eye and has been honing her craft for many, many years.

[Hawk]

I've tried intarsia a few times. What you have looks great, and seeing folks give it a try here always gives me inspiration to give it another go, with that time to search my patterns an pick one to try again. I really like the reference to what JGR does and her videos, I need to get them to give me a better chance, thanks for mentioning them. 

Chris

[spirithorse]

You are off to a fine start, Paul!
God Bless! Spirithorse

[Zoot Fenster]

What works for me.  All wood starts as 7/8" thick.  Sometimes add 1/8" shims to a center piece.  Almost all outside edges are 3/8" thick.  Use 1/4" if you can hold the pieces to sand.  So the pattern is numbered "2 or 3" on the outside to "7" for the highest wood.  Everthing else fits between these two thicknesses.  First pass at shaping is to level each piece roughly to height.  Then edges are rounded and pieces are shaped.  I am always sure that it is not going well. Then it is done.

I usually edge glue related sections together as I go.  Then cut or shape the last pieces to fit.

Your stuff looks great!

[Sycamore67]

I think you will need some shims first as they add depth.  I like to try different shims and see how I like it.  With the shims you can try multiple ways until you find the way you like

  I do not like the idea of just rounding over all the edges but rather shape to make lifelike.

Take your time !  It takes me much longer to shape than cut.  The T Rex I posted ended up taking more than a month to shim and shape.

Edited August 4, 2023 by Sycamore67

[Ron Johnson]

Looks great so far Paul. I’ve yet to do intarsia.