Hello Jay,

This will be an actual inlay as opposed to an onlay. I will glue it to a backer so that I can inlay the whole thing at one time, i.e. piece it together first while gluing to a backer instead of trying to cut the recess first and piece it into the recess. Once I get it to the backer I will trace the outline of the inlay and cut a recess. First I go around the edges with an exacto knife down to the depth of the inlay so that the edges are clean, and then I route out the waste with a very sharp chisel. The smallest parts I use the edge of the exacto knife to route out. This one I have some room to sand any imperfections, but the shell inlay is a very thin laminate material and there's really not much room for sanding. The other inlay I am going to do is the cross of St. James, which is my logo, and I do it in abalone that is sprayed with red lacquer. You can't sand it because it sands off the lacquer, so that one I have to just be really careful to get the inlay recess absolutely perfect.