Custom Furniture with Ebony Inlays

Custom furniture veneer inlays were all the rage back in the good old days; beautiful, artistic and time consuming.  Another method less time consuming that would add interest and dimension to the more modern designs of today would be to enhance your custom furniture with ebony inlays.

A beautiful piece we made last year for a NOTL customer incorporated the ebony inlay on the surface of the end table.  We started with a 7/8 inch solid oak piece roughly 24” square.  We set up the jig and routed 1/16” channel around the perimeter of the table.  We cut a 1/16” piece from a 2” strip of pure black ebony on the band-saw using a fine tooth 1/4” blade.  The strips of ebony were carefully glued and laid into the oak channel.  Then using a cabinet scraper they were made flush with the table top.  Once dried, the entire table top was sanded with 320 & 400 grade sandpaper.  After assembling the entire piece it was ready for stain and several coats of clear coating.  Below are a few

Step 1 – routing channel in oak

Step 2 – cut ebony strips to size

Step 3 – insert strips and shave flush

Step 4 – sand smooth & apply stains & clear coat