Mineral Inlay and Surface Embellishment class

I spent a week at John Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, North Carolina in a class with Jan Adams from Bogalusa, Louisiana. Although the course is listed as a wood turning class, the primary emphasis of the week was what you do with a platter or bowl after it is successfully turned. We were primarily studying methods for inlaying minerals, carving designs, or burning designs  into the wood surface. After these steps, the platter could be turned to final thickness and a finish applied. So, we arrived with several thick, turned platters and left to come home to finish the turning and finishing processes.

The first projects were mineral inlay designs. Once the design is chosen,

carving tools (Dremel or NPK) are used to create a 3/16 to 1/4 inch recess. Crushed minerals of various colors are then glued into the recesses. Some larger pieces are used but most of the crushed minerals are granules and powder. Once cured, the design is sanded so that it is flat with the wood surface. This usually reveals voids which are filled with mineral powder and glue and resanded. I completed two projects to this point.

Now that I am home, I can remount the platter on the lathe and reduce the thickness to a more pleasing dimension. The final step will be numerous coats of finish to highlight the inlay and the grain of the wood. The platter shown to the left will have a much more pronounced quilting once the finish is applied.

I also wanted to use the experience of my instructor to begin to learn to use carving and burning for embellishments. I experimented with a NPK Presto carving unit and ended up ordering one to use at home. It is essentially a dental drill which cuts quickly but very quietly. I tested out the carver with several different bits on a maple leaf design in the middle of a platter. Once the design was carved, the slope of the platter needed to be adjusted so that the leaf appeared to float above the surface. The carver made short order of the wood removal and the area immediately around the leaf was accentuated with another bit in the same carver.

My final project was to accentuate a rim using only a wood burner. The edges of the leaves and stems were outlined with one tip while the background strip underlying the leaves was done with the side of another tip. I got so much new information and so many ideas from just the five days. The instructor had many examples of work that he had done using all of these types of embellishments. It was a jam packed week with four other students. While it was listed as an intermediate/advanced class, all of us were new to at least part of these techniques. I have already contacted Great South Gems to order green and clear calcite so that I can try some more projects.