STAMP INLAYING.
Of course there are times and places where the sameness and rigidity of
angular patterns are tedious, and the eye and hand, fatigued by it,
desire a change into something more graceful and harmonious in effect.
The smaller the pattern, the more tedious, irksome, and expensive the
goods. To avoid delay is one object of the workman, but to obtain
perfection is the chief. In order to do this, we must have some plan or
some tool to multiply the same shape with great rapidity and regularity.
[Illustration: Fig. 70.]
In fine workmanship, or rather in small pieces, it would be impossible
to cut out any great number with the certainty of their being at all
similar; some would be large, some small, and all different. Let us
imagine that it is desired to inlay a laurel wreath, or a garland of
stars in an elliptic pattern about the edge of a box cover, as in Fig.
70. It will be seen that to cut each one in with a chisel would be an
endless task. I therefore propose to do it much quicker than it can be
done by other plan, and that is by a stamp. I make a steel stamp, or
punch, of the exact size of the pattern I wish to let in the box, and
am careful to have it bevel inwards, from the edges toward the top, as
in Fig. 71, not only to avoid breaking down the edges, but to make a
clean, sharp impression in the wood. It is necessary to cut in pretty
deep, for, with all your care, you cannot avoid breaking the edge to
some extent, and it can only be practised on any solid, sound wood,
_not veneered_. Except for large patterns, I do not put veneers in
these incisions, or stamp markings, as I could not cut them out so
small, as the pattern shows in the engraving, but I either make a
cement of white lead, and push that into the holes, or, using the same
stamp I cut in the pattern in the wood with, I cut pieces out of thin
sheet German silver, and push them in with great ease. If I use silver,
I am careful to cut in below the surface of the cover on the box, so
that I can put the cover in the lathe again, and refinish the top so as
to be flush with the silver. In this way I get a true, uniform, and
even pattern, which looks as if it had grown in its place; for grace
and elegance of appearance, it cannot be surpassed. Where it is
absolutely necessary to use a chisel and cutting tool to inlay with, I
still make stamps, even so large as half an inch superficial area, for
they are soon cut out, and serve to mark the outlines for the chisel,
so that it is easier to cut the pattern by their aid.
[Illustration: Fig. 71.]
In straight lines, or even in letting in circles, parts of circles,
ellipses, in fact, any curved or angular work with veneers, I
invariably cut the pattern _out_ before laying it on the box, and then
fit the other colored pieces in the spaces left. Very many veneers
cannot be handled at all when dry, without breaking all to pieces and
spoiling the pattern. It will be necessary to soak ebony, for instance,
for some time before you want to use it. With this precaution, you can
cut it in any shape without danger. It is the same with maple veneer.
When I have cut out an intricate pattern in ebony, and wish to inlay
the same with holly, I obtain an exact duplicate of the shape the holly
should have, by placing it, _wet_, over the ebony, holding it firmly,
so that it cannot slip, and then rapping the holly with the end of a
tool handle. In this way a fac simile of the pattern is transferred in
wet lines to the holly, and you have only to follow them over with a
lead pencil to get a perfect shape. Then take a sharp square-ended
knife, and laying the veneer on a hard surface, cut slowly and
carefully all round the marks, and after a few incisions, you will have
the satisfaction of seeing it come out perfect.