Laser Marquetry & Parquetry

[Amihai]

Hello,
I'm interested in creating artistic images and shapes in my kitless pens using contrasting pieces of wood with a laser machine, and have several questions:

What is the making process? I personally had the idea of turning round blank from a base wood, then laser marking a desired shape on that base wood, and then laser cutting the same shape from a different species of wood veneer and gluing it together. I guess this process will require a rotary attachment. What is the desired marking depth on the base wood? What is the desired veneer thickness? Also, what laser machine with a rotary attachment will you recommend? Thanks!

 

[SteveJ]

There have been a number of examples of marquetry on pens over the years. Most have done them with a scroll saw. Jeff Powell, who hasn't been on the site for a few years, was an expert at this. He explains some of the process in this thread on bending veneer, His comments in the 7th post are helpful.

Another one to post some marquetry is Dimitris. His pictures can be found here, here, and here.

Now, as to some of your questions.

What is the making process? The method you suggest can work. The issues you will face have to do with bending the veneer (Jeff Powell's post above will help with that). His suggestion is to glue the veneer directly to the tube instead of inlaying it. Unless you are using sufficiently thick veneer, you run the risk of turning through the veneer into the wood it is glued to.

I guess this process will require a rotary attachment. Not necessarily. Those who do it on a scroll saw aren't using a rotary.

What is the desired marking depth on the base wood? You should mark deep enough to cover the thickness of the veneer. Any veneer which stands out from the base wood is an invitation for ripping out the veneer when turning. Also, remember that many pens have very little wood to work with in the final shape, so consider that when designing your kitless pen.

What is the desired veneer thickness? Thick enough not to be turned or sanded away!

What laser machine with a rotary attachment will you recommend? That depends on how much you want to spend. Kallenshaan woods has a pretty decent sized CO2 laser (I visited their shop once while in Vegas but I don't remember what they are using.) Ken Wines cut his designs on a CO2 also if I remember correctly. Ken created his own rotary.

You can do it on a diode laser and there are many available with 30-40W diodes that are capable of doing it.

On the other hand, cutting the marquetry on flat pieces and gluing them together also works. The work shown by
amtechrs in this post show a fairly simple way to do it. I've done some without utilizing the box method he suggests. They can easily be done with a diode laser.

 

[Amihai]

There have been a number of examples of marquetry on pens over the years. Most have done them with a scroll saw. Jeff Powell, who hasn't been on the site for a few years, was an expert at this. He explains some of the process in this thread on bending veneer, His comments in the 7th post are helpful.

Another one to post some marquetry is Dimitris. His pictures can be found here, here, and here.

Now, as to some of your questions.

What is the making process? The method you suggest can work. The issues you will face have to do with bending the veneer (Jeff Powell's post above will help with that). His suggestion is to glue the veneer directly to the tube instead of inlaying it. Unless you are using sufficiently thick veneer, you run the risk of turning through the veneer into the wood it is glued to.

I guess this process will require a rotary attachment. Not necessarily. Those who do it on a scroll saw aren't using a rotary.

What is the desired marking depth on the base wood? You should mark deep enough to cover the thickness of the veneer. Any veneer which stands out from the base wood is an invitation for ripping out the veneer when turning. Also, remember that many pens have very little wood to work with in the final shape, so consider that when designing your kitless pen.

What is the desired veneer thickness? Thick enough not to be turned or sanded away!

What laser machine with a rotary attachment will you recommend? That depends on how much you want to spend. Kallenshaan woods has a pretty decent sized CO2 laser (I visited their shop once while in Vegas but I don't remember what they are using.) Ken Wines cut his designs on a CO2 also if I remember correctly. Ken created his own rotary.

You can do it on a diode laser and there are many available with 30-40W diodes that are capable of doing it.

On the other hand, cutting the marquetry on flat pieces and gluing them together also works. The work shown by
amtechrs in this post show a fairly simple way to do it. I've done some without utilizing the box method he suggests. They can easily be done with a diode laser.

Thanks!