Here’s a question that I sometimes get: What is the best way to inlay metal into wood. So I made a video showing how I do it.

I had to make a large walnut box to hold silverware. The design needed to be modern and a brass accent stripe was the perfect choice. In a nutshell, I measured where I wanted the stripe and set my table saw fence accordingly. Using a ripping blade in my saw (because it has a flat tooth on it), I made multiple passes, with each pass moving the saw fence over slightly. I did this, sneaking up on the cut until the brass fit snugly in place.

A few things to remember when doing this:

• It is easier to sand wood than metal so I make sure that cuts are deep enough so that the brass is not sticking up proud of the lid. I can then sand the lid down until everything is flush.

• Sanding brass with an orbital sander leaves a marked surface. It may be shinny, but it’s not smooth. After I use the orbit sander, I will hand sand the brass, going in one direction. It doesn’t take much sanding to get rid of the marks from the sander. Moving up in grits will give you a shinier, smoother look.

The biggest point of contention is what is the best way to attach the brass to the wood. From my experience, good old fashion CA glue does the trick. I know some people have tried different types of glue and epoxy, with varying success. But I haven’t seen anything that works as good and easily as medium thickness super glue. I clean off any grease and oil from the metal using a basic soap or cleaner. Then, I like to scuff sand the metal with some 120 grit sandpaper.

Here’s another tip for you. Before gluing down the metal, put some painter’s tape on the end grain around the opening where the metal will go. Any glue that squeezes out after applying clamps will then not soak into your end grain. This can be virtually impossible to sand away sometimes.

There are my tips for inlaying brass or other metal. It’s not difficult to do and will give your project a bit of flair and class that it may be missing.

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