Compass Rose Inlay

This is an ‘after the fact’ overview of the steps I used to make a compass rose inlay that was put into the seat of an entry bench. Not so much a 'how-to' video, but it covers most of the steps involved.
Key points:
1. Size, the circular part of the inlay was about 4 in. in diameter. From the tips of the outside cardinal points, probably about 5 in.
2. Primary woods are gabon ebony and holly
3. I also used 'dyed black wood’ from Woodcraft to make up the curved outer dashes in black that were roughly 4” in diameter. These were made up of 4 laminations that were bent around a circular form shown in the video at around 0:14. Much easier than it sounds!
4. The holly for the circular dashes was bent by soaking in water and heating up in the microwave followed by bending around a 4” diameter form.
5. I drilled a hole in center of the inlay (at 0:18) for a registration pin (a 3/8” dowel) that was used to establish the 4” diameter circle cut by the router. (0:26).
6. Each of the 32 pieces of the outer circle were hand cut to length and sanded with a block to meet as cleanly as possible.
7. The recesses for the inlay were roughed out using an 1/8” router bit. The detail work was done with chisels and, for the tips of the points, an exacto knife. The depth was about 1/8” or less.
8. Each of the points was hand-fitted into the corresponding recess. This involved lots of trial and error adjustments using a hand plane mounted upside down in my vise. (0:44)
9. After gluing in the inlay using regular white glue I waited about a day or two before handplaning and sanding flush to allow the moisture in the glue time to evaporate.
10. The finish is a light coat of boiled linseed oil followed by many coats of padded on clear shellac
11. The background music is written and played by me (on my son’s junior-sized learning guitar -- super cheap, but w/ a sweet, sweet tone!)

Joseph Murphy Furniture Maker
www.josephmurphy.net
Instagram: @madebyjoemurphy