: Hello everyone,

: Here's the inlay that I cut out yesterday for my wood stand up
: paddleboard. As you can see, right now it's just cut out and
: still has to be glued to the backer before inlaying. I also have
: to cut the eye which I'll do after it's glued down and won't cut
: the abalone for the eye until it's ready to go in because it's
: so delicate.

: This is te Virgin Islands flag, and the "V" and
: "I" on the left and right sides of the eagle will be
: done in abalone inlay. Again I'll do that last because the stuff
: is very brittle. I am just passing time until I pick up the
: table saw this weekend so I can finish ripping the strips I need
: to finish this project. I wanted to thin out the strips for the
: rails and ran them through the thickness planer and they came
: out in pieces!!! Have to rip some more. Note to all- when
: running very expensive mahogany through a thickness planer don't
: try to run all the strips through at one time! They back up,
: bend into the blade, and come out in bits and pieces. Patience
: is a virtue. At least I had patience when cutting all these
: little pieces for this inlay. I will add details like the claws
: and outlines for the feathers with a fine brush and some
: watercolors once it's all glued up.

Very nice, lots more patience than me :)

Bill H.