Books:

Discovered! 505
Odd Enterprises

Hidden Dollars

How to Make
Money at Home

Small Business
of Your Own

You Can Own
a Business

Not quite. They're the names of five woods and the countries of their origin, woods used by hobbyists like me—a man with an armful of veneers for his paints, a jigsaw for his brush and a plywood panel for his canvas.

Animals, landscapes, portraits, almost anything that can be sketched, painted or photographed can be duplicated in colorful, exotic woods to form a strikingly original veneer inlay picture that you'll be proud to match against any store-bought article of home decoration. An initial expenditure of $5 to $10 will give you a supply of veneers, glue and finishing materials to make a dozen or more pictures, depending on their size.

My cheapest picture, that of an elk head, fetched $15 (in pairs, $25), and my most impressive one, to date, "Summer In The Mountains," sold for $35.

IN CASE you are unfamiliar with veneers, a piece of veneer is a very thin sheet of wood, domestic or imported, about ¹/28 inch in thickness, used to give a more beautiful and expensive looking "face" to cheaper or less attractive woods in making furniture. As a matter of fact, the original meaning of the word veneer was to embellish or decorate a common surface with costlier and more beautiful materials such as ivory, gold, silver, precious stones and the like.

Veneer woods vary in coloring and figuring; for example, Indian padouk is a rich, ox-blood color; African zebra wood, a light colored wood with a distinct striping; West Indian satinwood is of a rich golden color, beautifully figured; ebony, a dark, purplish-black wood, and so on. It is of these woods that I construct inlay veneer pictures such as those illustrated in this article.

All drawings, sketches and pictures subdivide themselves pretty definitely into cut-out parts. In the case of a face, for example, the individual features such as eyes, nose, lips, ears, hair, etc., are fairly well outlined and call for veneers matching them in general color tone. You will find it most effective to add shadow effects, though, to such portions as cheeks, neck and hair by using a combination of lighter and darker woods.

In making landscapes—details such as trees, ground, rocks, water, sky, buildings and the like stand out definitely as individual pieces and can easily be matched in many kinds of veneers. Here, again, shadows and highlights comprising a single outline should be emphasized by contrasting veneers. It is this play of light and shadow that adds depth and realism to any inlay picture. Keep in mind that when I say you are to match veneers in toning or shading to the originals, it doesn't mean that the face, for instance, must take a flesh-colored veneer, because any shade of light tan wood will do; similarly, in making up a scene with trees, don't look for a piece of green veneer to match foliage—a dark brown veneer, preferably with a prominent grain, will do for the entire tree or even forest; a stream will be shown by a light colored wood with a wavy grain, such as satinwood, fiddleback maple or mottled avodire, the whole possibly broken by darker shadows of trees or buildings set at the water's edge and casting reflections therein.

THE FIRST picture I made was purchased in kit form and cost $5. The kit consisted simply of it supply of numbered veneers, a half dozen duplicate copies of the scene to be made with the cutouts already outlined and numbered to correspond with the preselected veneers, and instructions. It was a 12-by-24-inch (counting the frieze or frame around it) outdoor scene that took me about twenty-five hours to make and which I sold for $35. After that I spent $6 for a supply of some twenty square feet of different veneers that gave me material for a dozen or more pictures. I paid a visit to the local art supply store where for 15 cents each I bought outline sketches, of figures and scenes. Remember that you must have at least two duplicates of each picture since you will be cutting up one and mounting veneer pieces on another and, in case of bad errors in cutting, you may need another. However, it's a simple matter to make as many carbon copies as you wish of the original or master drawing. If you're handy at sketching, you can make enlarged copies of almost any picture post card or photo that catches your fancy. Avoid scenes showing too many people or with tiny, fine detailing; remember you'll have to duplicate all this in wood and the smaller and more intricate the cutting, the harder it will be to saw, handle and match your veneer pieces.

The first step is to subdivide the picture into its natural components by drawing in pencil outlines. Refer to the accompanying photograph of the "South African Head" for an illustration of the method used. This is quite easy: you simply mark off the individual features, taking care to avoid any unnecessary abrupt or narrow curves to facilitate your jigsawing. The face will, of course, be one shade, except for the parts around the jawbone and cheek, which are shadowed and call for a contrasting, darker veneer. Eyebrow, eyelid, eyelash, eye and eyeball are all distinct cuttings and are, of themselves, already outlines. Extreme care will be required in jigsawing such small pieces since they must be cut of different veneers to give life and substance to that feature. Of course, it would be easy, for example, to cut the entire optic features out of one piece of veneer but can you visualize how dead and featureless it would look?

While on this point, here's a tip on cutting the tiny pieces that always crop up. I don't know how many little bits I lost when they fell through toe saw table slot and were lost in the general pile of sawdust and scraps underneath, and the consequent loss of time and temper when I had to recut and, in many instances, lose them again. Finally I hit on the idea of covering the slot with masking tape, applied to the underside, whereupon my hobby—and domestic—life resumed its even tenor.

TO RESUME: The nose will take the same veneer as the skin of the face, but the lips are darker, and a shadow line accentuates the bottom of the chin and runs up into the line of the jawbone. This line should be cut as one with the jawbone mentioned above. The neck will take the same veneer as the face; the necklace should be some figured or striped veneer such as mottled mahogany, peanut figured tamo or lacewood. The same general procedure is followed for the balance of the head, viz., the ear may utilize three different veneers, a light one for the outside shell, a medium dark for the inner side and a very dark wood for the center ear hole. Here, again, notice on the photograph of the head how the shadings of several veneers give a three-dimensional appearance of depth and reality that would be lacking if that feature were in monotone. The pendulant earring will take a light and dark veneer (dissimilar from that of the neck, of course, to make each stand out); the "hair-do" will utilize alternate strips of two different veneers, one light, one dark, again for contrast to bring out the "waves"; and the hair ribboning can take one veneer except in the back where it is turned upon itself to make the bowknot so that you can see the inner, shadowed side and the upper, lighter side. The latter will require the same veneer as the ribboning around the head; the former will use a darker veneer.

Now we want to select our veneers. When you buy your veneers you will find them already numbered to correspond with the company's color panel in their catalog so that you can easily identify them.

Shuffling through your veneer supply, we come across striped Oriental wood (which comes from Australia!). This is a dark brown wood with a distinguishable stripe and will do for the face, and a darker wood, like rosewood stripe, will be fine for the shadowed portion. Or you can use the Oriental wood for the shadow and pick a somewhat lighter veneer like plain or figured cherry for the lighter shade. Actually, your choice of woods is so wide that you can hardly go wrong as long as you keep in mind the important factors of light, shadow and grain. The last, though mentioned here for the first time, is most important. Many of the veneers show a pronounced grain or marking, and this should be taken into consideration in laying out your work. For example: in a woodland scene, when cutting a veneer such as zebra or kingwood or any veneer with a distinct grain or stripe to duplicate trees in your picture, arrange the cutout so that the grain will run vertically. Distant hills or mountains are rendered more effective by varying the run of the grain, whether one or several veneers are used, with a lighter stock cut in at the top to simulate snow; again, a large rock in some outdoor scene can be given perspective and roundness by using two pieces of the same veneer for the cutout and running the grain of one at an angle to the other.

As you select your veneers, mark the number of each in the corresponding part of the picture where it is to go, and indicate the grain by two small parallel lines. Refer to the photograph for an example of this. Mark a duplicate picture similarly to facilitate your veneer assembly later on.

Using a scissors or sharp knife, carefully cut up the sketch into its marked parts, placing all duplicate numbers in one pile. Referring again to our example, all pieces numbered 72 will be together, number 28's, number 96's, and so on. Keep all cutouts in a box or some safe place where they will not get lost or mixed up.

WE'RE NOW ready to cut the veneers. Take a group of one number and place them on its corresponding veneer, arranging them so that the grain or marking of the wood runs in the direction of the lines indicated on each paper cutout. Cut the veneer, using a straight edge and sharp knife so that a margin of ¼ to ½ inch is left all around.

Now remove the cutouts and sandwich the veneer between two pieces of very thin wood, such as ¹/8-inch balsa, cut to the same size, to prevent the veneer from splitting when you saw it. I use and find very satisfactory, scrap wood salvaged from fruit and cheese boxes my grocer saves for me. Paste the cutouts, using any fast setting glue, like rubber cement, on the top "blind" as the upper and lower woods are called, again keeping in mind the direction of the grain. Drive several fine headless nails or brads around the sandwich near the edges to secure the work, snipping the heads off with a pair of wire cutters and driving the nails flat so as not to leave any projections that might catch on the hold down foot of your jig saw. Let dry.

You can make up all your sandwiches at one time and cut them another night. Or, if you're eager to get started on the sawing, here's a suggestion. Make up a half dozen sandwiches and let dry. Make up another half dozen and set aside to dry and then start cutting your first batch. By the time you're through cutting, the second lot will be dry—make up a third, set aside, and cut your second, and so on. The main point is to make sure that your pasted cutouts are dry, otherwise when you lower the hold down foot of your jig saw onto the work to keep it from jumping or chattering, in turning the piece while cutting, your paper outline may move around or crumple up on itself unless it's stuck fast and dry to the top blind.

Using a very fine blade, one about .010 inch thick, .045 inch wide with eighteen teeth to the inch, carefully cut out each section, placing it and the identifying top blind in a box to avoid loss. You'll want to work very carefully here, since any carelessness will show up in poorly matching pieces and some of the very bad ones may have to be entirely recut. The finer the blade you use, the closer the pieces will match, though don't forget to let up on the blade tension when setting it in your jig saw to minimize breakage. Save all the sawdust that collects under your saw table. More about this later.

WHEN ALL the sections have been cut, each piece, beginning at one corner, is placed on its corresponding section on the duplicate sketch. I assemble everything like a jigsaw puzzle, and fasten the pieces with dabs of glue to keep them in place. Do not apply glue over the entire area of each cutout as the paper backing must come off later and there's no point in making extra work for yourself. If you find some of your pieces have a tendency to curl while working, place small weights on them to keep them flat until they dry. Because each piece has been cut separately, it is almost impossible to have one fit exactly against another—a little touching up with a sharp knife will be necessary in the case of overlapping, unless you have been extra careless and the piece is far out of line all around; then it is best to cut another one. Don't worry about the gaps and crevices showing between the veneers; we'll take care of them later.

With the entire picture assembled, you will have a fairly accurate idea of what your finished picture will look like. Straighten up to take the kinks out of your back and study your work carefully. Now is the time to make any changes if you find that your choice of a veneer to fit some particular bit of your picture is so glaringly wrong that it "just doesn't look right." For example, too light a wood to represent distant mountains, or too dark a wood for the sky, etc. Lift out the offending section and try cutting it out of another type of veneer; often, a simple change of grain direction will make a world of difference in the looks. Don't feel disappointed if at this stage your picture appears dull and rough—the filling in of the saw cuts and cracks and your first coat of shellac will bring it to life wonderfully. Let the work dry for a few hours or overnight under moderate pressure such as a board weighted with a few books.

Brush off any surface dust and veneer shreds and apply masking tape to the face of your picture, pressing it down firmly with a roller or your hand, so that when you remove the bottom paper to which the veneers were glued, no pieces will fall out. Turn the work over and with a sponge or soft brush, moisten the paper backing so that most of it will peel off quite easily; those spots where the glue was applied are a bit more obstinate but can be scraped off with a knife. You'll find that the glue may have stained the veneer but no matter—this side will be the underside of your finished picture so no one will see it anyway. If the water has penetrated to the inlay and caused it to curl, place a weighted board over it for a couple of hours and it will dry perfectly flat.

Now you have the completed picture in reverse. We're going to fill in all the little spaces and saw cuts that are showing and for this we haul out the sawdust which we have carefully saved. A word about the sawdust. My jig saw is twelve years old and leaks oil from the crankshaft around the lower plunger so that all the sawdust which collects there gets thoroughly soaked, rendering it quite useless for our purpose. If you encounter the same trouble, here's a remedy for it. I dump the sawdust into a small glass jar, add carbon tetrachloride to cover it (any commercial dry cleaning fluid will do) and stir it up for a couple of minutes to dissolve the oil. Then I filter the entire mess through filter paper, Kleenex, a paper napkin or fine cheesecloth into another container and let it dry on a blotter or newspaper. The sawdust comes out beautifully clean and dry.

Make a filler by adding some of the sawdust to a base of glue mixture, producing a putty-like mass. With this, fill all the little crevices and sawcuts between the inlay pieces, scraping off the excess filler, and once more dry the work under pressure. When dry, sand lightly to smooth the filler even with the veneers.

YOU'RE NOW ready to mount your picture. There are several ways to do this. If your picture is rectangular, say a 12-by-18-inch outdoor scene, your most effective mounting is a plywood panel backing. You may wish to run a border around the picture to set it off as a frame, in which case allow for it in ordering or cutting your panel. Your best type of mount is of plywood, no less than ½ inch in thickness; ¾ inch or 1 inch is better to eliminate any possible warping. If cost is a factor, you can use white pine, ¼ inch plywood or even pressed board or Masonite. In such cases it will be necessary to glue another piece of plain cheap veneer like walnut or mahogany to the back of the panel to counteract any tendency to warp.

If your picture is a figure or portrait as, for example, my picture of the South African, a very effective, though much more time consuming method, is to rout out the figure on the panel so that when it is glued in it will be flush with the surface of the mount. This is done by first outlining the inlay on the board and then by means of either a router bit in a drill press or one of the small handier motor tools, using a depth gauge, routing out the outline to slightly less than the thickness of the veneer itself, so that later it can be sanded down even with the panel. A border of either plain or inlaid veneer, ¼ inch or so in width can be set (also routed and inlaid) around the edges of the panel to give a really stunning finish to your picture. These border inlays can be purchased ready made and are quite inexpensive, running from 20 cents a linear yard up, depending upon width and intricacy of design. Let me repeat: in this second method of mounting, a power tool is absolutely essential for routing to an even depth; never attempt to use a chisel for this purpose, it won't work out.

Still another way to mount your picture if it is, again, a figure of some sort, is to glue it flat to a panel a little larger than itself. When it is thoroughly dry, carefully jig-saw the panel around the figure so that it emerges as a cutout.

Lastly, you can mount your picture as an overlay, simply by gluing it on top of your panel so that it projects its own thickness above the surface of the board. This is the easiest though least effective mount.

HAVING DECIDED upon which type of mounting you are going to use, apply glue either to the mount or the picture and place it face down, wood to wood, with the taped side up. Place a few thicknesses of newspaper over it all and let dry at least twenty-four hours under fairly strong pressure. Use clamps or a flat board with some heavy weights.

After drying, strip off the masking tape and once more go over any open saw cuts with a filler of sawdust and glue.

Don't forget to cut (mitering the corners) and glue any border or framing you intend using, or you can do this before you affix your picture and glue everything at one time. If you do, be extra careful of slipping when you apply pressure.

Occasionally, you may find that some part of your picture has not been glued down properly and stands up above the rest in the form of a little bump or blister that gives when you press down on it. To remedy this: with a very sharp, thin bladed knife slit the blister lengthwise down its middle, pry up one half and slip a little glue under it. Do the same with the other half and then apply local pressure by means of a clamp.

You're getting into the homestretch, now, so the next night, skip dessert and scuttle down to the basement.

Start your sanding by using No. 3 sandpaper, preferably backed by a rubber or felt padded block. Sand with the grain of the mount, and then with the grain of the veneers. You will probably have the grain of the veneers running several different ways and all counter to that of the panel, but first sand the entire work smooth with the grain of the panel; then, using either a corner of your sanding block or a small piece of the paper, sand each differently running veneer in the direction of its grain. Repeat, using as fine a sandpaper as you can get, No. 6 or No. 7 will do. Don't forget to sand the edges of your panel, too.

YOU'RE NOW ready for finishing. No matter what your final finish, give the entire picture, back, edges and face, a wash coat of half white shellac and half denatured alcohol to seal the pores, and when dry, rub down with fine steel wool. You can finish with two or three more applications of either shellac (again cut half and half) or varnish, rubbing each coat smooth before applying the next.

Personally, I prefer a dull finish and use only shellac; the ultra spiny lustre of a finishing varnish seems to cheapen a picture; in addition, when viewed under artificial light a shiny surface throws reflections and highlights, making it difficult to appreciate properly. You can, if you like, use a dull finishing varnish, or you can rub the final coat down with powdered pumice and mineral oil to take out the shine. One or two picture hangers screwed to the back of your picture and your work is done.

After I had made my second picture, a thought suddenly struck me, as it probably has you, by now. Why limit yourself to cutting one picture at a time? Well, you don't have to. I have cut as many as four pictures at the same time by pasting each cutout on a sandwich of four veneers, which is all my saw will handle. I have made, exact duplicates, and I've varied the color tone of the pictures by using different veneers.

MY FIRST attempts at veneer pictures went to replace some run-of-the-mill chromos that hung on our living room walls in my home in Philadelphia—and a vast improvement they made, even granting that I was prejudiced. However, when an artist friend of mine first admired, and then offered to swap a couple of his oils for a couple of my "woods". I figured his offer stemmed from more than just polite flattery. I said to myself, "I think J.B.'s work is pretty good; I know he sells regularly, and if he considers an exchange a fair deal, he must feel my medium is as good as his; and since my old geometry book says that things equal to the same thing or equal things are equal to each other, Q. E. D., why can't I turn inlays into coin of the realm.

I sold three of them to admiring friends whom I now admire even more and then, one nervous day, I took four of my best ones (though I really think they're all "best") to the neighborhood gift shop. The dealer was very kind and considerate and though he believed he could sell them he hesitated about buying them outright, since my asking price, plus his profit markup might price them above a good number of buyers. So, to eliminate any risk on his part, I offered them to him on consignment; that is, when he sold them he would pay for them, and he accepted promptly. "

Less than a week later he telephoned me, telling me he had sold three of them and wanting to know how soon I could make replacements. Two of them, a mountain scene and a winter farm scene, he had sold to one of his regular customers who had bought them on the condition that he permit her to return a couple of still life prints she had purchased earlier that month. All three pictures fetched $85, out of which I received $65. Well, I walked on helium all day, was quite impossible to talk to, and lived down in the basement evenings for over two weeks to fill my "agent's" order. Since then—in the six months subsequent to my turning professional he has sold eight pictures for a total of $165, to me, that is, and my workshop is how richer by a power table saw and my wife's kitchen sports a shiny electric mixer. (She helps me stir the glue!)

AFTER THE first fine flush of enthusiasm, I've settled down to producing one picture every two weeks, unless there is an especially impatient customer, which allows me to accumulate a backlog against any sudden spurt in sales or the possibility of acquiring another outlet at some future time.

On my third trip to the dealer, I remarked that he had my samples scattered throughout the store, sandwiched between his regular displays. I asked for, and got, a 4-by-5 foot section of his wall where we hung all my pictures together and underneath I placed a hand printed 8-by-10-inch card with the following explanation:

"These are hand made inlay veneer pictures of fine domestic and imported woods. Each picture consists of scores of pieces, cut separately from a number of different veneers and carefully matched to make the composite picture—finished and mounted to make an original that will add distinction to your home decor. Each one of these pictures represents a minimum of twenty hours' hand work."

On the back of each picture I affix a typewritten sticker giving the title of the picture, the different woods (and their origin) that went into its making, the date of completion and, of course, my name. A card will read as follows:

"This inlay veneer picture, entitled 'Elk Head' is hand made of the following woods:
Purpleheart — Dutch Guiana
Zebra wood — Africa
Sycamore — England
Walnut burl — U.S.
Padouk — India
Oak — U.S.
Bubinga — Africa
Rosewood — Brazil
Aspen — U.S.
Walnut — U.S.
A. Zelitch - 7/32/52"

To date, aside from occasional home sales, this dealer is my only outlet. I did offer my pictures to another shop but removed them after about a month of no sales, which illustrates a point to bear in mind. His stock in trade consisted primarily of $1 to $10, and $15 items such as dollar variety costume jewelry, lithographed prints, inexpensive planters, lamps and the like. His customers were in the small dollar class and were unwilling or unable to purchase any finer handiwork costing several times that of their accustomed purchases. So don't be modest about your wares. Too cheap a price, sometimes unjustly, gives the impression of too cheap a product. The inlays are so striking looking and so different from the usual line of mass production articles that they both attract immediate attention and command better than average prices.

What are better than average prices? Well, your picture will cost you in materials anywhere from $1.50 to $3, depending upon its size and the type of mounting. The rest is what you figure your time to be worth. I set a figure on my time at $1.25 an hour. My cheapest pictures sold were $15 for one elk head, $25 for two; the two-for price here was allowed because I cut four heads at once at a considerable saving of time. I got $35 for my 12-by-24-inch "Summer In The Mountains," $25 for my "South African," and equally attractive prices for my other inlays.

ASIDE FROM your supply of veneers, which I purchase by mail, you'll need the following materials:

1. White glue.
2. A ½-inch or 1-inch, brush for spreading the glue.
3. At least three copies of the picture you will make.
4. A supply of the thinnest smallest brads you can buy.
5. A roll of masking tape, 1-inch width or more.
6. Several sheets of No. 3 and No. 6 sandpaper.
7. Several pads of fine steel wool.
8. Picture hangers.

And the following tools:

1. A jig saw, motor operated or magnetic.
2. A routing tool if you are going to inlay your picture into the mounting panel.
3. A sharp knife.
4. A straight edge, metal or wood.
5. Clamps, if you will use them for drying your work under pressure, though I have used a board and several heavy weights and found it satisfactory.

And now, a last thought: Once a year civic organizations in our city sponsor a hobby show, at which commercial firms, clubs and individuals display their arts and crafts. I have yet to find out details such as entrance fees, if any, booth rentals and other necessary requirements, but I intend to amass a couple of dozen inlays and supplies for sales and demonstration purposes. All of which means busy evening sessions ahead, for it should be kept in mind that while no special artistic ability at all is necessary, the work does take a good bit of time and the only answer to production in quantity is to concentrate on possibly no more than six to eight different pictures and to cut as many as possible at one time by padding your veneer sandwiches as thick as you can conveniently cut them on your saw.