It pays to make a full-sized drawing of the design, as the relation of the inlaid work to the space it is to occupy is important. For a box proportioned like the one just described, 11 × 7 inches, the inlaid design should be in about the same general proportion. A square centre piece in such an oblong space would not look well; it should be about one and a half times as long as the width. The best plan is to draw the box top full size and then carefully work up the design.
This sort of designing will be a new experience, as the veneering is all cut in a mitre box, no tool but a saw being used, and this fact limits the designs.
Several pieces of the veneer are glued together and placed in hand screws over night.
Suppose the combination shown at [Fig. 182] is used. Five thicknesses composed of two 1⁄16-inch walnut, next two of 1⁄16-inch holly, and in the centre one 1⁄8-inch ebony, will make a strong combination 3⁄8 inch thick.
Fig. 182. Inlaid designs cut in a 45-degree mitre box
The dimensions should be about 18 inches long by 3 inches wide. These five pieces when glued together make a solid piece 18 × 3 × 3⁄8 inches. This built up board is sawed into strips 1⁄8 inch thick, and these strips 3⁄8 × 1⁄8 inch form the basis of the design.
In drawing the centre piece, border, or whatever form the inlay is to take, it must be constantly kept in mind that 3⁄8 inch is the width of the pieces. [Fig. 182] shows the shapes possible on a 45-degree mitre box. Four pieces like a make a square. To make an oblong design from this shape, ten pieces will give b. Four pieces like d will give a hollow square, in which may be fitted a piece of fancy wood such as rosewood, snake wood, satinwood, or some other South American wood.
The Greek cross is a favourite figure, and it is composed of twelve pieces, eight like f, and four like a. Some of its variations are shown in c c.