Chose the appropriate type of wood. Use of contrast colours and wooden parts of different structure may lead to wonderful composition for intarsia of upper side of the etwee.
Cut out the components of a wooden jewel-box with fretsaw or scroll saw
1. For making any etwee, that is available in this lesson, you will need 4 small planks 120*120 mm. in width*height (the dolphin pattern needs the workpiece with dimensions 120*160 mm.). The thickness of parts must be: bottom and top - 5 mm., the box - 20 mm, the support plank for incrustation - 3 mm. For better combination you may cut out the planks for bottom, top and the box itself, using one type of wood. See the assembly sequence below.
2. Take the two-sided scotch and stick the workpiece of the top of wooden box onto the surface of the box. Stick the pattern of a figure to another surface of a box. Pierce or drill the 1.5 mm. opening inside dotted line in the corner of pattern. Then, insert the cutting edge of fretsaw into the opening and cut the contour of figure, following the dotted line. Leave the pattern clinged to the surface of the box, but disassemble the top and put it aside for a while.
3. By fixing it with screw-cramp, stick the workpiece to the lower surface of box. After the glue dries out, attach the 3 mm. wooden workpiece to the workpiece of bottom detail by using two-sided scotch.
4. Take the fretsaw and cut out external sizes, following the solid lines. Detach the plywood. Grind the rough parts, using little file or fine-grained sandpaper.
Click the plan to enlarge
5. Cut out every detail of intarsia, leaving about 6 mm. beyond the line of cutting line. Attach every pattern to corresponding workpieces with glue and cut the the details out of workpieces, leaving about 0.8 mm. beyond the lines.
6. Attach little parts with double-sided scotch. Polish every part with file or sandpaper.
7. Try to assemble the parts of intarsia and check their similarity with original patterns. After you have assembled all the parts, polish their upper edges to get proper contours.
8. After polishing, measure the detail`s accuracy, and if it is ok, stick the parts to the plywood or veneer. Press and hold these parts to the plywood for 1-2 minutes, trying to keep their mutual layout.
9. When the glue is dried, take an abrasive rod and make a face on the side of a plywood with 45 degree corner. Use little nail file to form the adjoining corners. The face will make it easier to clutch and remove the cover from box, when the casket is ready.
10. To make the cover even and attach it to the plywood, you have to make 3 distance pieces and insert them into the box. Upper edges of these distance pieces must be positioned 16 mm. away from the bottom part, inside the box. It will make possible to press the cover of a box as far as it would go onto them, untill it is levelled with the top of the box. Lay the cover onto the distance pieces, apply the glue and press the plywood with intarsia to the cover.
11. Grind the etwee with abrasive sponge (grain 320 points), then remove the dust with compressed air. Finish your work by covering the box with 3 layers of aerosol lacquer.
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