Simplified Compass Rose Inlay - Scroll Saw Project

This scroll saw project was a gift the sole proprietor of Compass Coaching, a certified professional life coach, specializing in ADHD and executing functioning (compasscoachingseattle.com). The simplified compass rose is one logo used by the company.

Two tiles were made using curly maple and Peruvian walnut. After cutting stock to size, the two blanks were resawn at the table saw. The cut faces of the resulting pieces were cleaned up with a smoothing plane, to be laminated after scroll sawing operations.

The top “plies” of each tile were fixed together with double sided tape and stack-cut. A 5/16” [8 mm] boarder was removed before cutting the outline of the compass rose. The entry point for cutting the cardinal and inter-cardinal directions was a 3/16” [~5 mm] diameter hole at the center of the rose.
Each border ply was glued back together to conceal the scroll saw cut before being laminated to the bottom ply. This was accomplished using Titebond III glue and many spring clamps. The tile bodies were set within the borders and inlayed with the contrasting compass points (i.e. maple inlay in walnut border and walnut inlay in maple border).

The holes at the center of the roses were filled with plugs, cut from stock matching the compass point material. Not having the appropriate size plug cutter, nor the time to acquire one commercially, a cutter was improvised using a brass coupler meant to join soft tubing. With the fitting chucked up in the drill press, the barbs were removed using a metal file. Three teeth were cut into the end of the shaft with a cut-off wheel in a Dremel tool. After plunging the cutter into the maple and walnut stock, the plugs were freed from the parent material with a pull saw. While the service life of the improvised plug cutter is questionable, it worked a treat for the two plugs required!

The thin kerfs left from scrolling the parts were filled with dark brown CA (for the walnut compass points) and a blend of “white” and “natural oak” epoxy putty (for the maple compass points). After resurfacing, the tiles received several coats of satin spray lacquer, just in time to be presented to the intended recipient. Happy Birthday Bethany!

Woodwork, video, & editing by Justin @TwinTenonLLC

Music:
Music from #Uppbeat
https://uppbeat.io/t/stan-town/peppy-...