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Butterfly Inlays

Butterfly Inlays (post #141310)

fordtruckguy on Mon, 12/14/2009 - 04:01

General Discussion

I recently purchased a beautiful slab of 10/4 figured cherry. I plan on making it in to a small table top or bench seat. It has been air drying but still green. The slab is clear except for a check on one end that is about 6 inches long. I plan on using a butterfly key to keep it from getting worse. My question is, is there any harm in inlaying the key now to prevent the check from getting worse? I have only used butterfly inlays on already dried boards. I can't think of a reason why I can't do it now but wanted more advice before I did it. This board is too good to waste.

Happy Woodworking!

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by oldusty in reply to fordtruckguy [original] on Mon, 12/14/2009 - 04:57

fordtruckguy ,

The first thing that comes to mind is exactly how wet or dry is the slab , you prolly want to glue the inlay in right ? If the moisture content is too high the glue may not work ?

Why not fit the inlays tight but dry , if they still fit then glue them in later.

regards dusty

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by fordtruckguy in reply to Anonymous [original] on Mon, 12/14/2009 - 15:51

Thanks for the reply oldusty

That is a very good idea. My moisture meter seems to have gone missing so I will have to wait a bit for an exact reading. I will dry fit them and worse comes to worse they don't fit in 6 months to a year and I will just cut a new inlay. Thanks again.

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by oldusty in reply to Anonymous [original] on Mon, 12/14/2009 - 16:14

Your Welcome from a Ford Van Guy .

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by citrouille in reply to Anonymous [original] on Mon, 12/14/2009 - 18:56

There are some devices designed for that purpose, one is a S shaped iron and one is shaped like a staple with the outside of the points straight and the inside on an angle, you drive both in the end grain.
The S is mostly for logs, the staple (about 2" wide with points 1" long) actually brings the lips of the split together.

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by Lataxe in reply to fordtruckguy [original] on Mon, 12/14/2009 - 23:01

FTG,

When timber dries and the forces that open a split increase, those butterfly thangs will put a stop to it. I often wonder: where does the split-force then go?

Does it stay locked up and somehow resolved in the timber, like the case-hardened plank that only jumps into two bananas when ripped? Perhaps it travels elsewhere (like the other end of the plank, where a new split opens) or does a jig and comes out sideways (as a twist or wind perhaps).