Marco's a great presenter, which is why this video won't seem like it's 45 minutes long! So get a big bucket of popcorn and a sheet for some notes. You're going to love it. Personally, it was difficult to edit because I would get wrapped up in the presentation and forget I was supposed to be scrutinizing the video cuts! Oh, and speaking of video, I'm getting a better tripod... sorry for some jerky motion... and also, next time I'll get there early enough to secure a third-row spot for better recording!
As for taking notes, I'll save you the trouble of making a list of tools you'd need to try this out. Look below the video for a list along with some suggested places to get them.
Tools and Supplies
Here's a list of the tools and supplies mentioned in the presentation:
- Mother of Pearl and Abalone from LuthierSupply.com
- Low-viscosity cyanoacrylate glue for sticking patterns to shell and gluing down inlays.
- Fretsaw from KnewConcepts.com. Shown was the Titanium model, but the Aluminum model is just as nice.
- 2/0 scroll saw blades from Paul Schurch.
- Scratch awl; I got mine from lathemade; is fully hardened and tempered
- Barrette needle file from Rio Grande.
- Parallel soft-jaw pliers from Rio Grande.
- Foredom 5240 wood carving kit from William Ng School of Woodworking
- Router base for Foredom from William Ng School of Woodworking
- Inlay router bits with collar from William Ng School of Woodworking
- Aquarium pump or compressed air connection for router base
- Duco cement available at hardware stores; used to transfer shell shape to wood
- Optivisor - I think you should find it locally and buy the one you try on and like. I tried Marco's and found that for me to focus, I needed to get too close with the standard 2x Optivisor. Other magnifications may work better. In my case, I'd drift closer to the fretsaw and bang my head on it :) Yes, everybody else found that funny.
Marco uses a gravers' handle on the barrette file; it's basically a bulb handle with a flat that is aligned with the flat blade of the file. I sent some handle-less files to Jim Coons who I met at WIA'11 and who makes the awls at lathemade. He's assembling the file on a gravers' handle for me turned out of some nice red palm. If his handles on a barrette file interest you, just contact him since he'll know what you're talking about.
Wonderful demonstration, but I think when I get to the point of doing inlay, I want to use a more macroscopic approach, rather than Marco’s microscopic approach. Maybe something on the order of hogging out the inlay area with an adze.
Dean
I just wanted to point out that the router base you linked to looks very similar to the one from Stewart-MacDonald which is a lot less expensive (though without the built-in light.)
Yes... in a conversation with William Ng, he said that base was the starting point for designing his base. Since William's is a custom tool and small volumes, it takes a hit on the price :-/