Marquetry,

the Italian Way

didnt know much about marquetry when I got my

first big table job in California in 1989. I decided
to inlay the solid maple top with wood and stone
designs by shaping the inlay, routing out the background, gluing the inlay into the recess, and sanding
it flush. I got the job done, but I knew there had to
be an easier way.
This spurred me to head back to Europe, where I
had done my original woodworking training. There I
found work in an Italian shop, producing marquetry
for the furniture trades, and learned the efficient techniques of knife-cutting, packet-cutting, and contourcutting that I still use and teach today.
The three techniques are complementary, and allow
me to produce any design I can come up with. They
require little investment in tooling, are easier and faster
than other methods, and deliver better results.
This article builds on an earlier one, Decorative
Veneering (FWW #164), where I showed how to do
a four-way bookmatch, stringing, and a border using
the knife-cutting technique. These elements combine
wonderfully with the marquetry in this article, where I
use packet-cutting to quickly create pictures in wood.

There is no faster
or easier method
B y

Pa u l

S c h r c h

By the way, to add depth and realism to these pictures, I also use sand-shading, a classic scorching technique for adding shadows. I cover that in Master Class
on pp. XX-XX. If you havent tried marquetry, you will
be surprised at how simple, practical, and fun it can
be. To demonstrate, Ill create a panel of three flowers,
with leaves and a curving stem.
You will need a basic scrollsaw that can hold a 2/0
blade, and for larger projects, youll need a vacuum
bag to press the veneers. I also recommend thin tongs,
for handling the pieces, and a 23-gauge pin nailer,
though hand-nailing the packet also works.

Why packet-cutting?
Packet-cutting is simply stacking various veneers on
top of each other and scrollsawing the pattern simul-

F I N E w o o dw o r k in g

Photos: Asa Christiana

Design:
You dont have to be an artist
If your design is simple or you can draw well, you can
create the design from scratch. But there is an easy way
to build a complex design without drawing.

Building blocks. Find line drawings in books, and

enlarge or reduce them with a photocopier to make them
the right size. Then trace them onto paper or clear film to
get clean versions.

taneously in both the background and the picture

veneers. The pieces are reassembled like a puzzle.
The kerf is not an issue, since the 0.008-in. gap created
by the blade is so thin that the gluing and finishing
process fills the grooves. I also use the thin sawkerfs
as a design element, as in leaf veins or other accent
lines in the design.
The beauty of packet cutting is that when you wander slightly off the line, the background and the design
will still fit.

Start with a drawing

Every marquetry design (called a cartoon) starts with
a line drawing, which acts as a template for cutting
out and assembling the pieces. There are many ways
to obtain a usable drawing for marquetry. You can
trace over photographs in books, using
either vellum tracing paper with a
0.5 mm mechanical pencil with HB
lead, or transparent film with a finetipped permanent marker. You can
then enlarge, reduce, or reverse the
drawing or certain elements of the
drawing with a photocopy machine to
achieve the proper elements for your

Online Extra

Scrollsawing in action. Go to
FineWoodworking.com/extras for a free
video on Schrch's tips for clean cutting.

Arrange to create. Photocopy those drawings and arrange them under tracing paper
to create a complete design, drawing in the missing elements.
Clean it up and label
it. To make your final,
clean drawing, place
another sheet of tracing
paper over the top. Put
clear film between the
sheets so the pencil
marks dont transfer
from below. Last, mark
and label your drawing
as shown below.

Manage the madness

In order to choose veneers for your packet and keep
track of the pieces afterward, you need to label each
element carefully.
Number each piece.
Two parallel lines
show grain direction.

Decide which edge

should be in shadow
(sand-shaded), and put
a row of dots there.

Build the packet

To saw out all the pieces in one shot, you need to bind together all of the
veneers in a stack, with the drawing on top.

Smart sandwich

Glue a copy of the

drawing on top.

Tape the back

edge to create
a hinge.

Flower
centers:
satinwood

Leaves:
dyed tulipier
Put in one piece
of veneer for each
color and grain
direction needed.
Petals:
holly

The background
goes in first.

Stems:
Swiss pear
Background:
pommele
sapele

Reinforce the veneers first. Put veneer tape on the show faces. Wet the
tape on a damp sponge, and burnish it afterward with a brass-bristle brush to
improve its bond. Place the sheets under MDF to keep them flat while drying.

The flip trick. To see where each

piece of veneer should go, flip the
top of the packet up and down
quickly. Secure each piece with a
few strips of blue tape.

Pin the packet. Put the packet on a layer of rigid foam, and use
a 23-gauge nailer, with 3/4-in.-long pins, to lock the layers together. Placing a 1/2-in.-thick spacer under the gun leaves the pins
sticking out 1/4 in. on each side. Nail into the background areas
only, putting at least two nails in each piece of veneer below.

project. By the way, a drawing can also be photocopied

onto transparent film, which can be used to trace a mirror
image for symmetrical designs.
You can also make your own sketch, refining it by placing tracing paper over each new version until you are happy with the picture and all the lines are crisp and clean. I
use common drafting toolsfrom compasses, rulers, and
templates I have made in 1 8-in.-thick MDF, to drafting
arms and thin wooden sticks to bend a curve just right.
My go-to tools are my 0.5 mm pencil, an electric eraser
(used with an erasing shield), and a photocopy machine.

F I N E w o o dw o r k in g

The top and bottom

are thin cardboard.

Clinch the pins. Bend over each pin

in the same direction above and below for greatest strength and to avoid
shifting the layers.

I find that creating a marquetry cartoon is easier after

the furniture has been designed, in order to get the form
and proportions just right.
For a workable cartoon, you should make all the pieces
in the design or background bigger than 14 in. square,
or they will be too small to handle while cutting or sandshading. I always try to simplify the drawing so that the
background is connected together as much as possible,
and avoiding narrow background sections between the images. I find that the most challenging designs to scrollsaw
are straight lines, thin parallel cuts (stems, border work),
Drawings: xxxxxxx

Saw from the inside out

lettering, and facial features: All of those show mistakes clearly, so beginners should avoid them.

Start from the inside elements so the outer elements

remain attached to the overall packet for support.

Labeling is critical
Its very important to number all of the pieces to help
you identify, sort, and assemble the marquetry pattern
after it is in a hundred pieces, many of them identical.
Youll also need to add little rows of dots where you
plan to sand-shade the pieces, as well as lines to indicate grain direction. After the final drawing is done,
I make three photocopies, one for choosing veneers
(sometimes I paint it first) to get the colors right, one
to be glued onto the packet as a cutting template, and
one as an assembly guide.

How to make the packet

Starter hole. Schrch cuts the head
off an 18-gauge nail and chucks it in
a drill to create a starter hole for the
scrollsaw. The nail parts the wood fibers, leaving an undetectable hole.

One stack at a time. After sawing an

element free, press down on it with a
pencil, lift the packet, and then reach
under it to remove the small stack of
pieces.

To build the packet, start with two sheets of grayboard

34 in. larger than the final panel size. Also known as
thin cardboard, base mat board, or notebook backer,
grayboard is about 0.035 in. thick, and can be obtained
from an art-supply store in sheets up to 3 ft. by 4 ft.
It allows for clean nailing, prevents scrollsaw tearout,
and helps the thin 2/0 blade to stay vertical while
cutting. Glue a copy of the drawing onto one layer

Pick out your parts. Now take apart each stack, find the
piece with the right color and grain direction, and place it on
a copy of the full drawing. Since there is veneer tape on the
show face, youll be looking at the glue face for reference.
Bring along the labeled, cardboard pieces too.

Sand-shading is next

Stay organized. Under each part of the drawing is a small stack of veneer parts.
Keep each stack together, with its labeled piece on top. Use a big tray and another
copy of the drawing to keep track of the pieces.

To find out how to do it, see

Master Class on pp. XX-XX.

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Assembly is the fun part

The process is quick and easy, and it feels great to watch your veneer
picture come together.
First pull the pins.
A small nail nipper
is the best tool. Use
it to grip the pins
firmly without cutting them. They will
straighten as they
pull free.

Build bridges. Schrch uses small vine pieces to connect the two halves
of the background, working on the glue face.

Tape is the foundation. Working on the show

face, cover all the spaces with blue tape.

Paint your picture. Flip the pattern over to the glue face, and start placing pieces (left). Schrch
places his thin tongs into the sawn leaf veins (right) to spread the piece and even out the gaps. The
blue-tape adhesive allows the pieces to be shifted sideways.

Check the gaps.

Place the completed pattern in front
of a strong light to
check for uniform
gaps. Shift pieces
around if necessary.

F I N E w o o dw o r k in g

of grayboard with a spray adhesive like 3M 77.

Then tape the two sheets of grayboard together
along one sidehinged like a book.
Now select all the veneers youll need for your
design. The first piece in the packet is the background, the same size as the oversize grayboard.
It can be a radial match, bookmatch, or just a single sheet
of veneer. After that, if you are not using full sheets, each
piece of veneer should be prepared at least 1-in. larger than
the image it corresponds to in your drawing.
Apply 25-gram veneer tape to the whole show face (the
side that you will see once glue-up is done) of each layer
of veneer to reinforce it, and rub the tape aggressively with
a brass-bristle brush to improve its grip. Then immediately
place the pieces under a sheet of MDF or plywood to keep
them flat while they dry for 20 to 30 minutes.
After that, you can start building the packet. Using a
few pieces of blue tape, secure the background veneer to
the bottom layer of grayboard. Then open and close the
sandwich rapidly to make sure you are positioning each
piece of veneer directly under its drawn outline, and secure each one with a few more pieces of blue tape. Select
veneer pieces and orient the grain for maximum effect,
depending on your design. Make sure the gum-taped side
of all pieces is facing up.

Got a chunk missing?

Repairs are easy
Oops. Sometimes
a tiny piece chips
away and goes
missing.

Nails lock everything in place

Close and nail the packet together with 34-in.-long,
23-gauge pins. These nails are thin and have a sharp
point on one end, which separates the fibers rather than
crushing them. Still, lighter background woods can show
pinholes after glue-up, so youll need to fill those holes
after the design is assembled but before glue-up. Just apply a spot of white glue, burnish the hole closed with the
tip of a chisel, and hand-sand with 100-grit paper, filling
the hole with dust.
Here are some other important tips: Nail the packet
together on a piece of rigid foam so the nails dont stick
into your bench. And nail only into the background areas,
close to the designs. Hopefully, each piece of background
will be secured by at least two nails to keep it from shifting
during sawing. I put a 1 2-in.-thick spacer under the body
of my nailer, which leaves each pin protruding 14 in. on
either side of the packet.
Now, bend down (or clinch) the nails. Dont bend
them over a cut line, and be sure to bend both sides in
the same direction. If you form an S-shape, you will shift
the veneer alignment.

Scrollsaw success

Stippling means
spreading. Use
a sharp chisel to
spread the nearby
wood fibers along
their grain lines, filling the gap.

Glue and sand.

Apply a dot of glue
to the stippled
area, rub it in, let
it dry, and sand it
lightly with 100-grit
paper.

While cutting the packet on a scrollsaw, remove each

stacked element of the design as it is cut free, placing
them to one side as you go. To get the pieces out, I use
a pencil or metal awl to hold down the stack of pieces I
just cut, as I lift the packet. And then I reach under the
packet with a pair of thin tongs to pull out the little stack.
Your best bet is to start cutting out pieces from the
middle of the design, and work your way out toward the
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M a r ch / A p r i l 2 0 1 2

Dance of the tape

Most veneering projects involve a back-and-forth between blue tape and veneer tape, in order
to move all the veneer tape to the show face while keeping the pattern in perfect alignment.

Tape the glue face. Use blue tape on the back side to lock in the
pattern and placement. Burnish the tape with a brass-bristle brush for
a good hold.

edges. This way, the pin nails holding the packet together
will continue to support the veneers throughout the cutting process.
I make the starter hole for the scrollsaw blade in the
center of the packet, by drilling with a sharpened 18-gauge
wire nail. The sharp spinning point eases the fibers aside,
so they will knit back together later. No drills, since they
remove wood fibers.
It is wise to save all the pieces until the project is glued
up, since you may need an alternate piece to replace a
damaged or lost one.
After cutting, sort and select each piece including its
numbered grayboard drawing on a tray for sand-shading.
After shading, you can pull the pin nails out of the packet
to release the background, and the pattern can be assembled.
To remove the pins cleanly, place the packet on the rigid
foam again, and gently lever the pins straight out with
some wire nippers, without cutting them. The pin will
unbend on the bottom and pull out.

Putting it together: Tape and tape again

When all the veneer parts are ready for assembly, place
the background onto a flat surface, gum-taped show face
down. For this flower design, the stems act as bridge
pieces, joining the two background sections together. Use
a few pieces of blue tape to secure them.
Now flip the pattern over (show face up) and put wide
blue tape over all assembly areas. Then flip the pattern
over (show face down again), with the sticky side of the
blue tape showing through the voids. The large blue tape

F I N E w o o dw o r k in g

Clean off the show face. Remove all the blue tape from the show face.
Keep the tape low as you pull it off, to avoid pulling up fibers or a whole
piece. Hold pieces down if necessary.

will hold it all together, and allow you to stick all the small
pieces in place. This is the fun part, watching the picture
come together.
Spread the leaf veins apart to snug the leaf perimeter
tight to the background, which also opens up and accents
the vein lines. Place the outer petals of each flower snugly
against the background first and then work your way in
toward the center, distributing the gaps evenly. The adhesive on the blue tape will let you shift the pieces sideways.
And if you need to move a piece, its easy to pry it up with
the tongs and reset it.
After the basic assembly is done, most kerf gaps will
not need filling, since glue-up and finishing will do this.
To fill gaps larger than 1 32 in., you have a few options. You can stipple the veneer by stabbing
it along the grain direction with a chisel,
opening up the wood fibers to fill the
gap. You also can insert veneer
slivers where needed, and
dab white glue into
the repair areas

Tape the show face. Now veneer tape goes

on the show face to hold everything together
through the glue-up process.

One last layer to remove, then let it dry. Dont forget the
blue tape you put on the glue face (above)! Put the veneer
under a layer of MDF to keep it flat while it dries (right).

(or other fragile spots). Lightly sand the glue spots with
100-grit paper to ensure they will adhere properly to the
substrate. By the way, like assembly, repair is always done
on the glue surface.
The tape dance isnt over yet. Cover the glue face with blue tape,
flip the skin over, remove
all the blue tape from
the show face,

Perfect
panel.
To learn how
Schrch adds
beautiful borders and
stringing, read his article in FWW #XXX.

and replace it with slimy gum

tape. Once again, brush down
the tape and place the assembled pattern under a platen
until it is dry. Last, remove
the blue tape from the glue
surface.
Now you are ready to trim
the edges, and add stringing or
borders if needed. Make both
the finished pattern and the
substrate 1 2 in. oversize (14 in. all around) in case the
veneer shifts during glue-up. I use the substrate as a
template for trimming the pattern. Cut a balancing
veneer for the back of the panel, do a final
check for gaps and overlaps in your
marquetry, and proceed to glue-up.
The glue fills most of the gaps, but if
any depressions are left after Ive sanded the panel and sealed it with a couple
of padded-on layers of shellac, I fill them with
Famowood or Dap (both walnut color).
Thats it. Lots of steps, but none of them difficult.
Youve learned marquetry, and your imagination is the
limit now.

Paul Schrch makes furniture in Santa Barbara, Calif.,

and teaches across North America. His veneering tools
and DVDs are available at schurchwoodwork.com.

M a r ch / A p r i l 2 0 1 2