FlutterBy (Butterfly) Decorative Inlay Kit EZInlays

FlutterBy Decorative Inlay Kit

$75
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Dimensions:

5" Tall, 4-3/4" Wide

Instructions to build the Decorative Inlay Kit FlutterBy

FlutterBy
Instructions

This Build

Image of the FlutterBy inlay built with these instructions

Glitter-Fly

Image of a FlutterBy decorative inlay built with epoxy and glitter for the wings

Ornament

What's Included in the Kit

For $75 you'll receive a decorative inlay kit FlutterBy, which contains 7 templates. One of the templates allows you to cut out FlutterBy as an ornament. Careful that it doesn't fly away!

Five of the Templates builds another layer of the image of the Butterfly. The sixth template gives you options for cutting the inlays used for the wings, and the seventh template can be used to cut out FlutterBy as an ornament.

You'll probably get bored following the simple and repetitive router based inlay techniques needed to build a flawless inlay. But as you watch the metamorphosis of wood into a work of art you'll be captivated by the process and be amazed at how simple it was to add a stunningly beautiful accent to your project!

Best of all you don't need to be a master crafts-person to build this inlay. All you need is some wood and a few basic tools. Click here review the Router Based Inlay Tool List.

Never built an inlay before? Click here to Learn How To Build Any Wood Inlay.

Select and Prepare the Inlay Materials

This is another one of those inlays where it's fun picking out wood-color combinations! My favorite part is looking for those perfect pieces to go in the middle of the upper wings!!!

The best tip for this design is to think about how would your creation look in nature. Grain patterns need to flow with the lines of the wings and body or else your design will look weird.

You want the base material, the material in which FlutterBy will be inlaid, to be at least 3/8 of an inch thick, any thinner than that and chances are good your inlay will warp!

INLAY MATERIALS THIS BUILD

    * Padauk 7" x 8" x 5/8" - Base material (the lid)
    * Curly Maple 6" x 5" x 1/8" - Outer Wings
    * Purple Heart 4" x 3" x 1/8" - Center of Lower Wings
    * Bacote 4" x 3" x 1/8" - Center of Upper Wings
    * Wenge 3" x 3" x 1/8" - Body

GENERAL GUIDELNES

The main thing you want to pay attention when selecting the material for any type of decorative inlay is contrast. There are two type of contrast to keep in mind, color and grain pattern / direction.

It's possible to get decent contrast from two similarly colored woods as long as there is a sharp contrast in grain patterns and direction. Without this contrast your inlay will not look it's best!

Good Contrast Inlay
Picture of inlay with high contrast

Low Contrast Inlay
low contrast FlutterBy inlay

The Good Contrast picture shows great contrast all the way around. The section of Bacote used for the upper wings gives the appearance of eyes on the wings making the butterfly appear larger and more menacing to other creatures. This type of pattern is something one could expect to see in nature!

Purple Heart and Bacote was used to build the wings. The body was made from Red Heart and the base material is Oak.

It's your choice when it comes to what colors and grain patterns your outer and inner wings will sport. This page has examples where the entire outer wing is the same color and also examples of where the top outer wing is a different color than the bottom. You decide what looks best for you!

A good suggestion is to select the two pieces that make up the middle of the upper wings first! These pieces. L3P1 and L4P1, set the tone for the rest of the design, so pick them out first.

The Low Contrast inlay picture is made from Red Heart and Purple Heart. Unfortunately these two selections of wood didn't have enough contrast to make the inlay look it's best.

Cutting an Inlay Procedures

Configure your router by taking the BUSHING OFF and setting depth of plunge to cut all the way through the inlay material.

Align and, using double sided tape, affix the template to the inlay material.

Use quick release clamps to secure the inlay assembly to the workbench

Position the router inside the cutout shape, turn it on, and plunge it into the inlay material. Carefully guide the router around the perimeter of the shape keeping the bearing in constant contact with the template wall. After the pass is complete turn the router off, un-plunge it, and set it aside.

Ensure you cut all the way through the inlay material. If not readjust the depth of plunge and make another pass.

Carefully remove the template and the inlay from the backing material.

Click here review how to Cut Inlays.

Layer 1 Piece 2

Layer 1 Piece 2

Lower Wing - Two Pieces

There are two ways to cut the inlays for the outer wings. You can make them from the same material, or you can have a different material for the top wing and a different material for the lower wing.

If you want the upper and lower portion of the outer wins to be cut from the same material refer to the Outer Wing tab. This tab talks about cutting out the lower outer wing from a different material than the upper outer wing.

When selecting the material for the lower outer wing remember that about 70% of it is going to be replaced with an inner wing inlay. So when you select the material for the lower outer wing look for a material that will compliment the inner portion of the wing.

In this case I had a section of Curly Maple that had some interesting grain patterns that could be used in the tail of the wing. These are the inlay pieces in the Glitter Filled picture at the top of this page.

Layer 2 Pieces 1 and 2

Upper Wing - Two Pieces

This template cuts the upper portion of the outer wing. This template is used to cut out inlays only, it's not used to cut voids!!!

Once again consider contrast with the lower outer wing. the upper middle wing, and the background material when selecting these pieces.

Personally, I like to cut out both inlays at the same time so the grain pattern flows from one wing to the other.

Outer Wing - Piece One

Outer Wing - Piece Two

Outer Wing - One Piece

The Layer 1 and Layer 2 templates are used to cut the voids for outer wings on FlutterBy. You can also use them to cut out the upper and lower wings from one material.

If you decide to make the outer wings from the same material I would suggest trying to get a mirror image of the wings. That is what I'm trying to show in these pictures.

In these images, notice the bottom of the wings have a horizontal grain pattern while the upper wings really don't have defined grain patterns. The reason I oriented them like this is because of the tails on the lower wings. I wanted an interesting thing happening on those tails and the grain pattern fit the bill for my needs.

There are lots of ways to select the material for your wings. I like to slide the template around on the material until I see a pattern in the void that looks good. Once I find it I trace out the shape on the material and label it.

Layer 3 Piece 1

Layer 4 Piece 1

Top Inner Wings

YES!!! I love selecting the material for these two inlays. I like a single knot in the middle of each of these pieces to give the effect of large eyes on the wings.

OK... Time for total honesty... These aren't the pieces I used in This Build but I wish I would have! These two pieces would have been a huge enhancement to the overall look of the inlay.

When selecting these pieces think about how they will blend in with the rest of the design. While the only contrast you need to worry about is with the outer wing, it doesn't hurt to think about how these pieces will enhance the overall project.

Make sure the grain direction for these pieces match! If the grain runs horizontally on one wing and vertically on the other your butterfly will look like a reject from a Tim Burton movie! :O

Layer 3 Piece 2

Layer 4 Piece 2

Lower Inner Wings

The lower inner wings are cut from the Layer 3 and 4 templates. These pieces, L3P2 and L4P2, should be the third and fourth inlays selected for this design!

While the upper inner wings seem to draw the eye first, the lower wings can make or break the design. Personally I like softer grain patterns or glitter filled epoxy for these pieces. My favorite selections for these two pieces is the figured Walnut used in the Ornament Build.

Did you remember to pay attention to contrast and grain patterns? Good! Because contrast in inlays is everything and we already discussed the effect a non-aligned grain patterns can have on your (hopefully not demented) butterfly!

Speaking of grain patterns... Notice how the grain patterns flow from the corner nearest to the butterfly body, and extend outward to the edges... just like one would expect to see in nature. :)

FlutterBy Body

Body

Layer 5 is the template used to make FlutterBy's body. Last piece!!!

I've tried several different colors for the body of the butterfly but I keep coming back to the darker colors. The Yellow Heart body on the Glitter Filled design is to bright. The body should not be the focal point of the design.

I've always had the grain pattern for this piece flowing from top to bottom, but that doesn't mean it has to be that way. There are several instances in nature where critters have a horizontal striping pattern on their body.

Cutting Voids And Assembly

Configure your router by putting the BUSHING ON and setting depth of plunge to cut a void as deep as the inlay material without cutting all the way through the base material.

Use the circular alignment marks to align the template to the base material, then use double sided tape to affix the template in place. Use quick release clamps to secure the assembly to the workbench.

Position the router inside the shape, turn it on, and plunge it down. Guide the router around the perimeter of the shape and then move it back and forth to remove the material. After the majority of the material is removed turn the router off, un-plunge it, and set it aside. Clean out the debris then make another pass to get clean edges for the inlay to fit into and to remove any remaining knobbies.

Carefully remove the template from the base material.

Pre-fit the inlay into it's void and sand to fit if necessary. Once the fit is satisfactory smear glue on the bottom of the inlay and in the void. Place the inlay in it's void and use a soft mallet to tap the inlay until it's fully seated.

Click here review how to Cut Voids and Assemble the Inlays.

Layer 1 Void

Layer 1 Assembled

Layer 1 Voids

Use the Ornament template, Layer 7, to decide where to position the design on the base material. After positioning the template, trace the two circular alignment marks and the outline of the template on the base material. You can review the alignment procedures here.

Using the registration marks, not the template outline, position and secure the Layer 1 template to the base material with double sided tape. Route the void for the outer wings using the Cutting a Void procedure. DO NOT ROUTE THE ALIGNMENT MARKS!!!

After the void has been routed, use a paint scraper to gently pry the template off the base material. When finished the void should look similar to the Layer 1 Void picture.

Depending on if you cut one or two inlays for this void, assemble the inlay(s) into the void. When finished your project should look similar to the Layer 1 Assembled picture.

If you inlaid two pieces there will be a gap between them. Don't worry about it because that will be filled when you inlay the body on Layer 5.

You don't need to allow time for the glue to dry before moving on to the next layer.

Layer 2 Void

Layer 2 Assembled

Layer 2 Voids

Layer 2 will cut the void for the other half of the outer wings.

Using the registration marks, not the template outline, position and secure the Layer 2 template to the base material. Route the voids using the Cutting a Void procedure. DO NOT ROUTE THE ALIGNMENT MARKS!!!

After the void has been routed, use a paint scraper to gently pry the template off the base material. When finished the void should look similar to the Layer 2 Void picture.

Depending on if you cut one or two inlays for this void, assemble the inlay(s) into the void. When finished the inlay should look similar to the Layer 2 Assembled picture.

If you filled this void with two inlay pieces you'll notice the gap that you routed away has returned in a slightly different spot. Once again, don't worry about it, Layer 5 fixes all. :)

There isn't a need to wait for the glue to dry on this layer before starting the next layer.

Layer 3 Voids

Layer 3 Prepared

Layer 3 Voids

For this layer we start to route out the voids for the inner wings.

Using the registration marks, not the template outline, position and secure the Layer 3 template to the base material. Route the voids using the Cutting a Void procedure. DO NOT ROUTE THE ALIGNMENT MARKS!!!

After the voids have been routed, use a paint scraper to gently pry the template off the base material. When finished the voids should look similar to the Layer 3 Voids picture.

For this layer and the next layer we just cut the voids but do not assemble the inlay. Because Layers 3, 4, and 5 don't have any overlapping inlays we can cut out all 5 voids and then fill in the voids with their respective inlay.

In the Prepared picture, notice how the shapes from the Layer 4 template was used to determine where to place double sided tape.

Layer 4 Voids

Layer 4 Assembled

Layer 4 Voids

Layer 4 cuts the voids for the other two inner wings.

Position and secure the Layer 4 template to the base material. Route the voids using the Cutting a Void procedure. DO NOT ROUTE THE ALIGNMENT MARKS!!!

After the voids have been routed they should look similar to the Layer 4 Voids picture.

There is no point in assembling the inlays for this layer yet. After you cut the void for the body on the next layer you can inlay all 5 pieces at the same time.

In the Prepared picture, notice how the shape from the Layer 5 template was used to determine where to place double sided tape.

Layer 5 Void

Layer 5 Assembled

Layer 5 Void

Time to put a bow on this design and inlay the body!

Position and secure the Layer 5 template to the base material. Route the void for the body using the Cutting a Void procedure. DO NOT ROUTE THE ALIGNMENT MARKS!!!

After routing the void should look similar to the Layer 5 Void picture.

Now that the 5 voids are routed assemble the inlays into their respective void. After assembling the inlays into their void you're done building the inlay and it should look similar to the Layer 5 Assembled picture.

After the pieces are assembled let the glue dry for a few hours or overnight is better. Glue drying is critical now because the next step involves sanding and finishing the inlay.

After the glue is completely dry proceed to the final sanding and finishing procedure or to the Cutting an Ornament procedure depending on your needs.

Ornament Template

FlutterBy Ornaments

Cutting Out an Ornament

You have the option of cutting out the FlutterBy design as an ornament if you want.

Using the circular alignment marks, position and secure the Ornament template to the base material. Cut out the Ornament as an inlay using the Cutting Inlays procedure.

One of the fringe benefits of cutting out FlutterBy as an ornament is that it leaves behind a pretty cool shape that works well as something like a picture frame. You don't have to use the outline as one of course, but it is a pretty cool option to have! :)

After cutting out the ornament proceed to the final sanding and finishing procedure.

Final Sanding and Applying Finish

To fix any gaps in the inlay smear a small amount of glue into the gap, wipe off the excess glue, then sand over the area. The sanding action will cause sawdust to mix with the glue in the gap blurring it out.

After all the gaps have been filled sand the entire inlay until it's flat. This process is best done after the glue has completely dried!

Once sanded apply the finish of your choice. Personally I like to apply three coats of Tung Oil followed by three coats of a polyurethane finish that has a UV inhibitor in it. The UV protection will help keep the woods from changing color over time.

Click here for more information about Sanding and Finishing Tutorial.