Inlay material Q

[sharkster]

I was just looking for guidelines in material minimum thickness. Specifically I have mother of pearl that is about .1 thick. if I inlay a diamond at .1 deep the edges will be fairly thin after turning it down to match the cue. If i set it .1 on the edge of the diamond, won it be noticable in the center? Average the two?
Thanks for the help.

 

[Mr Hoppe]

A simple diamond isn't that wide, so you won't loose that much thickness on the outer edges as compared to the middle of the part. To remove the least amount of total inlay thickness, install your inlay when your cue is as close to final size as you dare. .100 of material is a reasonable amount to work with, although more would be better. It ultimately depends on how deep you mill your pocket. Good luck.
Mr H

 

[RocketQ]

Look up segment of a circle. http://mathforum.org/dr/math/faq/formulas/faq.circle.html
Where h is the depth of the inlay. When c and h are ther same you went too big.

c = 2 sqrt(r2-d2) = 2r sin(theta/2) = 2d tan(theta/2) = 2 sqrt[h(2r-h)]

Some materials you can go thinner on the edge mop is somewhat translucent. It also depends on color contrast as to the thickness at the edge. You should be able to get away with .040 at the edge with mop in something like ebony.... In maple you could go thinner.



John

 

[Tony Zinzola]

I have inlays as thin as .040 all the time and don't have issues with losing corners or anything. I do my inlays when the cue is at sanding size or just a few thousandths over. While thicker may be more desirable, you don't always have that luxury unless you are using gigantic cutters. .010" cutters only cut .040" deep.

 

[sharkster]

Thanks

Thanks for the info. I appreciate the insite, its crazy the generosity of cuebuilders.

 

[Cue Guru]

Hello!

Inlays are fun!

Always good to check before you start milling...

Anyway, I drew up a design on CAD and then was able to determine what I needed. My inlays (in this case) are 0.080" thick. At final size, I had 0.027" thickness at the 'tips' of the diamonds.

Hope the diagram helps you!