Workshop on Cutting Marquetrywith a Knife (18.10.

2009)
Introduction
Knifecuttingis morecommonly
usedthansawingfor marquetry
in Australiaandthe United
Kingdom,becauseit requiresno specialequipment
andcanbe doneon a kitchentable.
Otheradvantages
arethatthereis no noiseor dust producedin the cuttingout stage.Safety
is stillan important
however,becauseof the sharpness
consideration,
of the knifeblades.
Thethinveneers(approximately
0.6mm)available
in Australiaarewell-suited
to this
produce
gaps
approach.
As in sawnmarquetry,
an aimis to
workwithno
betweenthejoints.
It may requiremanyhoursof practiceto achievea desiredlevelof skill.Thesenotescover
somebasicpointsonly.The references
listedat the end aresomeof the manysourcesof
furtherinformation
on all aspectsof marquetry.

Veneers
Black
Bogor fen oak,macassar
ebony.
Brown
Walnut,teak,blackbean,
oak,silkyoak,elm,blackwood.
Tan
Weathered
sycamore,
lightoak,teak,opepe.
purpleheart,
Purple
Kevasingo,
indianrosewood.
Red
Padauk,westernredcedar,makore,mahogany,
sapele,jarrah,Queensland
maple.
gaboon,bird's-eye
Pink
Canadianbirch,pear,lacewood,
maple,cherry,elm,aspen
White
Horsechestnut,
whitesycamore,
koto,ash,willow,poplar.
Yellow
lroko,antiaris,
avodire,satinwood,
obeche.
Burrs
Gambola,elm,walnut,greencyprus,amboyna.
SpecialeffectsTamo
ash,zebrano,figuredoak,oliveoak,rosewood,
bird'seyemaple.
Harewood Veneersdyedwithsulphateof iron,in shadesof silver,slate,darkgrey,etc.
DyedveneersVariousuniformbrightcoloursare available.
Above listadaptedfram Turner(1990:7).

SelectingVeneers
Whilea scrollsawcan cut hardveneerswithease,theyare difficultto cut witha knife. Even
whencuttingagainsta steelrulerthe knifecantendto wantto followthe grainratherthan
the ruler.Repeatedshallowcutsare usuallynecessaryfor bothhardand softveneers.
Choosingsoftveneersis one wayto minimizethe difficulties
of cuttingmarquetrywith a
knife.Examples
of softto mediumveneersareavodire,beech,benge,birch,butternut,
pear,peroba,poplar,poplarburl,
cherry,harewood,
holly,huonpine,koto,mahogany,
sapele,sassafras,
sycamore,
walnut(seeHobbsand Fitchett1980:31).A smallselection
of
projects.
easy-to-cut
veneersmay be sufficientfor many

FlatteningVeneer
lf the veneeris buckledandwill not stayflat,spraya fine mistof methylated
yfirits on both
press
(carefully/gradually)
paper
sides,then
betweenboardsand
towels.Rdpeatif the
distortionsin the veneerare verypronounced.

ReinforcingVeneer
Attachpapertapeto the top (finishedside)of the veneerto preventsplittingand breakage,
especially
alongthe grain.Thiscanbe usedfor largepiecesof background
veneeras well
as for smallerinserts.Lincoln(1980:74)recommends
usingSellotape
on smallpieces.

Blades
Choicesof knivesincludea round-handled
craftknife,a carver'sknifeor a SwanMorton
knife.Mostcuttingis donewitha finepointedblade,suchas a number11 SwanMorton
soalpelblade.A number11 Xactobladeis similar.Anothertypeof bladewitha curvededge
is alsousefulfor scraping
tapeandgluefromthework.Bladescanbe embedded
in pieces
of polystyrene
or corkbetweenuses.

SharpeningBlades
Thissectionis fromthe websiteof The MarquetrySociety(UK):
http://www.marquetrv..
orq/the marquetry knife.htm
Of all the skillsrequiredin marquetry
withoutdoubt,the mainoneis the abilityto cut
accurately.
Thisskilldependson maintaining
a sharppointon the knife.The pointof the
part
bladeis the
of the knifewhichis usedto cut,notthe longedgeof the blade.To maintain
thispointthe bladeis sharpened
on a finecarborundum
stoneor oilstone,
as shownbelow:

Ser{er fn*rtv

sfHtrJatunw
sifr,of frhde

Ft*rts'

O{tstmrl
The backof the bladeis appliedto thestoneandrubbedin a straightlineto removeany
burrsor hookson thetip. Thiswillprogressively
movethe cuttingtip downthe blade.
NEVERtry to sharpenthe beveledcuttingedge,youwillnot be ableto competewiththe
manufacturer!
Workevenlyoverthe surfaceof yourcarborundum
stoneand try not to weara
groovein it.A cheaperalternative
is to usemediumclothbackedcarborundum
sheetglued
piece
to a
of wood.fives(1995:6-7)recommends
using80 gritfollowedby 180or 200grit
emerypaper.l
In orderto makea finercutandallowthe bladeto be removedeasilyfromthe wood,the
shoulderbetweenthe cuttingedgeandthe backof the bladeis alsogrounddowngivinga
morestreamlined
effect.

ScrollSawandMarquetrySpecial
InterestGroup

ACTWoodcraftGuild

Applyingthe Design
Manypeopledrawa designon tracingpaperandtransferthe design(witha 4H or similar
pencil,or a metalstylus)to the backof the veneerusingblackcarbonpaperor greygraphite
paper(fromart shops).Alternatively,
a designon whitepapercan be glued(gluestick)to the
the veneer.lf the designis on the backit will needto be drawnin reverse.Paperpatterns
attachedwitha gluestick(glueon the paperonly,notthe veneer)may peeloff fairlyeasily.

CuttingTwo Piecesat Once

1. Forsimpledesignswhereonlytwoveneersare needed,suchas for a backgammon
board,a knifecan cutthe two veneersat the sametime.Thiswill producetwo finished
pieces,one a 'negative'of the other.The sunburstand cat designsfor thisworkshopare
suitablefor thismethod.
2. Thetwo veneersshouldbe tapedtogetherfirst,withSellotapeor maskingtape around
the edges.The cuttingproceedsby makingrepeated,overlapping
shallowcuts.Avoid
makingheavycutsas this makesit harderto followthe patternline.
3. For largepieces,it may be preferable
to cut onlypartwaythroughthe secondveneer
beforeseparating
the two layers* to avoidcuttingsliversfromthe secondpieceif the
angleof the cut changes.The secondpieceis thencompletedfollowingthe partiallycut
line.Thewindowmethod(seebelow).also
usesa shallow.knife
cutto markouta pieceto
be insertedin a'window'.
4. Whenthe cuttingis completed,assemblethe pieces,securewithtapeon the front,and
rub PVAglue intothejointsfromthe back.Turnover,makesureall piecesa pushed
downso thatthe backis leveland,if necessary,pressbetweenweightedboardswith
wax paperon eachsideof the marquetry.
5. Whenthe gluedries,the marquetrywill be readyfor gluingto a backingboard,suchas
9mmor 12mmmdf or plywood.Removeall Sellotapeor maskingtape beforegluingon
to a board- it can be verydifficultto removeafterpressing.

The MarquetrySociety's(UK)Advice on Knife Gutting

Source: http://www.
marquetrv.
org/themarquetrv knife.htm
We alwayssuggestthat you startby cutting[simple]shapes.Carefullycheckyourtest
piecesfor any majorfaultsin orderto correctyourtechniquefor yourprojectwork.
gapsall round,checkthat you keptthe
1. lf the piecesare a veryloosefit withsignificant
knifein closecontactwiththe templateduringmarkingandthenfollowthat sameknife
markduringthe subsequent
cuttingout.
2. lf the edgesof the cut are chamfered(sloping)checkhowyou holdthe knife.Many
peopleholdthe knifeas theywoulda pen,in a slopingposition.
Youmustlearnto roll
the wristoverto keepthe knifebladesquareto the workto producea squarecut.
3. lf you are cuttingsmallpieces,or taperedends,reinforcing
the veneerfirstwith paper
tapewillhelp.Althoughthewoodmaystillbreakup,the tapewillholdthe veneer
together- carefulhandlingwill keepit togethefuntilit can be fittedand gluedintofinal
ScrollSawandMarquetrySpecial
InterestGroup

ACTWoodcraftGuild

position.Do notremovethe reinforcing

tapeuntilthegluehasdried(15minutes)or it will
allfallapart!
4. lf youarefindingit hardto seewhereyouhavetracedthe linethroughthe window,a
coatof papertapemakesthe cuttinglinemuchmorevisible.
5. lf the woodappearsto spliteasily,makesurethat you do not usetoo muchpressureon
the knifeto try to cut too quickly.Thisseversthe woodalongthe fibresinsteadof cutting
throughthem.lt is betterto useseveralcontrolledstrokeswithlowerpressureon the
blade.

The Window Method

.

The mostcommontechnique
for makingmarquetry
is the windowmethod.lt is suitedfor
bothsimpleandcomplexdesigns.As lves(1995:9) describes
it, " ... thismeansstarting
with a wastesheetof veneeror cardboardand cuttingthe shapeof one piecefromthis.A
pieceof the selectedwoodis placedunderthe openingor "window"
andcut roundusingthe
edgeof the windowas a guide.Eachandeverypieceis cutandfittedin thisway."
Thewindowmethod,donewell,canproducejointswithoutgaps.lt alsoenablesthe maker
to choosethe mostsuitableorientation
and positioning
of the grainor figurein the veneer,by
viewingit throughthewindow
RobinCromerwillbe discussins
thewindowmethod,
A websiteon the windowmethodis: http:l/www.woodezine.comi03_2005/0305_marquetry.html

Examplesof Marquetry
Thereare manyexamplesof marquetryon the web.A goodstartingpointis:
(UK)homepage:clickon'allgalleries'
http://www.marquetry.orgl
The Marquetry
Society's
page
pictures
for
at the leftof the
of marquetrywork.

Sourcesof MarquetryDesigns
Simpleclipart designsmayprovideideasfor initialtestpiecesandprojects.

References
Hobbs,HarryJ and Fitchett,AllanE. (editors)1980.ModernMarquetryHandbook.Thames
and Hudson.
lves,Ernie1995.Marquetryfor Beginners,lpswich:The MarquetrySociety(4tnedition).
Lincoln,WilliamA. 1992.TheMarquetryManual,Hereford:StobbartDaviesLtd.
*Middleton,
Davidand Townsend,Alan 1993.MarquetryTechniques,
London:Batsford
Turner,Roy 1997.TheMagicWorldof Marquetry,Melbourne:
The MarquetrySocietyof
Victoria.
*ln the Guild'slibrary.
DonRowland.
October2009

ScrollSawandMarquetrySpecial
InterestGroup

ACTWoodcraftGuild

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Don Rowland.October2009