Woodworking- Inlaying an Isometric Infinity Loop in Big Leaf Maple

I am about to make a shift in the direction of this blog. Most likely to the people who have read this far along, it's for the better. Two marathon training blogs is enough. So I want to change the topic! I have found a very new and interesting species of wood that was previously unavailable to me; Acer Macrophyllum, Big Leaf Maple.

I have worked Maple before, it is hard and it is beautiful. However, Eastern Maple is typically easily identifiable and consistent. Big Leaf Maple on the other hand is wildly variable and takes on multi-dimensions in regards to figure. In the upcoming articles I am going to chart the construction of the Gate Leg Table. Since, I typically name each piece of furniture, this one is going by the working title of The Mrs.

The Mrs. is going to have an Oak frame constructed from a salvaged pallet. No, it is not going to look like a pallet, it is going to look like a piece of furniture. You can follow my youtube channel JKOTAR20  if you want to see how I went about it. The drawer faces are going to be flame figured Big Leaf Maple, just one of the many figures this wood presents. The top of the table is going to be primarily Big Leaf Maple with some inlay decorations. The centre is going to be from the centre of the tree, or the heart. This figure has beautiful grain patterns with streaks of color throughout and amazing quilting. The surround is going to come from the outside of the tree and will display some very interesting flame patterns. These will be shown in later posts, so for now, lets get on with it, shall we?

The centre of the The Mrs. is the main focal point of the table and when the sides are down, the only part that stands out. So to make this even more appealing than the grain already provides, we are going to inlay two things, one is a small, ever so slightly noticeable piece of copper. When all is said and done there will be a very delicate copper line between the three band inlay and the surrounding pieces. On both ends of the table are going to be inlaid infinity loops. And that is what I am about to show!

Jason Michael Kotarski

So this is actually pretty easy once it's all laid out. Let's start with the degrees, 30 and 60. By setting up the table saw with the push block set to 60 degrees, we create the two points of the loop.

Jason Michael Kotarski

Now that the two points are set we can go to the sliding compound mitre saw for the next cuts, at 30 degrees. With the saw set at 0 (90 Degrees), the line should be be right through the centre. 

Jason Michael Kotarski

So, we need to shift this to the 30 degree mark to get the angle we need. 

Jason Michael Kotarski

This is one of those times where the laser is very helpful with double checking the correct angle! This cut will also give us the angle for the next cut which will in effect be like a return. 

Jason Michael Kotarski

  Now all we need is our parallelogram to give us the distance.

Jason Michael Kotarski

Et, voila! Now, time for some good ol' fashion chisel work!

Jason Michael Kotarski