• 1. Design
• 2. Elaborating of the inlaid product
•     2.1 Woodcarving
•     2.2 Cutting and shaping the inlay material
•     2.3 Joining and fixing the inlaid product
• 3. Finishing the inlaid product
• 4. Acknowledgment

Design

Islamic art is based on three main elements: geometric patterns, floral “Nabati” patters and calligraphic scripts. The development of calligraphy is strongly tied to the Qur’an; thus, calligraphic designs are omnipresent in Islamic art. Whereas, geometric and floral patterns are considered ornamental elements and they are believed to be the bridge to the spiritual realm. This design features an 8-pointed star, which is a common pattern in Islamic geometric designs and symbolises the eight angels that surround Allah’s throne. The dimensions for the design are 15 cm by 15 cm.

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Elaborating the inlaid product

This is the process or elaborating the inlaid product and will result in the final decorative piece.

Wood Carving

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On the design, indicate the depth levels to be carved on wood by using different colours (e.g. 1.5 mm depth for mother of pearls, 2mm for ebony, 2mm for bone).

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Glue this paper on the wooden base with white glue, using a flat paint brush (size: 10).

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Pass on it with your finger to make sure the paper is well placed with no bumps or extra glue under it. Let it dry for 2 hours.

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Trace the design lines using a straight chisel (small size: ½’’ or ¼’’) and a mallet. The size of the chisel depends on the size of the line that need to be traced. Do not trace with chisels outside the precise lines to avoid rework and changing the whole piece of wood.
Use a straight and thin router bit (1mm or 2mm) for carving the space of inlay materials using the wood router (electric hand trimmer). Adjust the depth of the router bit according to the depth needed for desired groove.

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Carve into the wood, inside the traced lines that define the space needed for each inlay material. Be careful and try not to cross the traced line to avoid repeating the whole process from the beginning and to change the piece of wood.

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Bring the piece of wood, and make sure that all the carved holes are clean from dust or anything that can affect the process of gluing the piece of inlay materials.Use the chisel for re-adjusting the grooves made by the router to make sure it’s totally clean & ready to place the inlay material.

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Cutting and shaping inlay material

This is the stage for cutting and shaping the inlay materials: Mother of pearl, camel bones and ebony.
Prepare the jigsaw for cutting the small pieces of mother of pearls, bone and ebony by directing the blade teeth facing down as well as by fixing the V-clamp bench pin on the workbench. Get ready to use the jigsaw and bench pin for shaping the small pieces of inlay material.

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Cut the small pieces of mother of pearls (numbered on the paper) with a craft knife.

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Use the white glue and flat brush (size 4) to glue the small pieces of numbered paper on the pieces of mother of pearl, bone & ebony. For easier sanding later step, make sure to choose the straightest part of mother of pearl shell.
Let the pieces of mother of pearl, bone & ebony dry for one hour, to be able to cut the small pieces without having problems with wet glue.

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Prepare the saw blade looking down and fix it on the jigsaw by adjusting the blade length.
Pass the wax stick up and down the blade, to make it soft and smooth. Do not forget to pass the wax stick up and down the blade of jigsaw after each cut piece, to avoid heat build-up and blade crack. If it happens, just fix another blade to the jigsaw, and begin the process again.

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Cutting all the small pieces of mother of pearls with the jigsaw up and down, one by one, in the same direction for each shape. Be careful not to cut inside the shape and cut exactly on the line. If you are unsure, cut outside the line and then it will be adjusted by sanding the piece to become exactly the shape you need to fit the groove for inlay process.

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The last step for shaping the mother of pearls, is to adjust each side of the small piece to fit the groove for inlay. By sanding it on a piece of sandpaper grit (size:80) glued on a piece of wood to be sanded on a flat surface. Sometimes using a steel file helps also in adjusting sides of the pieces.
Note that a mini craft tool can be used to adjust the size of the mother of pearl pieces and accurately fit in the desired groove.
Once you have cut them all, put them in a plastic bag or small box with a label on it.

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For cutting and shaping pieces of bones, you will repeat the same steps as mother of pearls, just make sure to use the saw blades (no.03) as the camel bones are thicker than the mother of pearls pieces. It is easier to cut the camel bone pieces because the slices of camel bones are straight and have a constant thickness.

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For cutting and shaping the ebony, the steps are the same as mother of pearls and bones except that we use metal blades (for cutting wood) instead of jewellery blades). The ebony pieces are the hardest to cut and shape due to their thickness and resistance, as ebony is a solid wood, and sometimes the wood stick inside the blade so we should clean it after cutting each piece of ebony.

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Joining and fixing the inlaid product

This is the stage for gluing all the cut pieces as per the design and clamping the inlaid wood piece to assure the gluing process. Sometimes, if the ebony and bones pieces thickness are more than 2mm, we prefer to glue, clamp, and sand these pieces into the wood as a 1st step before the mother of pearls pieces, to be sure that each piece of inlaid material has been glued and clamped correctly inside the wood.
Collect all the inlaid numbered pieces of inlay materials and make sure that the numbering corresponds to the numbering on the piece of wood.

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Using the flat brush, apply the glue inside the groove and on the edges too, to be sure that the piece of inlaid material is perfectly glued inside the wood. Then, put the inlay material in its according place into the groove according to its number.

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Hit this piece of inlay material with a mallet using a small piece of wood and make sure it is totally placed inside the wood. We use this piece of wood the avoid hitting the piece of material directly and causing any cracks.
It is particularly important to repeat the same process for all pieces of inlay materials quickly to make sure the glue is still wet before the clamping process. After being sure all pieces are perfectly placed into the wood, our piece of art is finally ready for clamping.
Cut the white foam sheet with the craft knife the same size of the inlaid wood piece.

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Place the 1st plywood piece on the workbench, then put the inlaid wood piece over it (the inlaid side should be looking up). After that, place the white foam over the inlaid side of the wood, and then put the 2nd plywood piece over it.

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By using 4 clamps, clamp the whole layers together one by one and make sure that the white is partially compressed between the inlaid wood piece and the plywood piece over it.
Once you are satisfied with the clamping process, let it dry for 24 hours.

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Finishing the inlaid product

The final stage of any wood working is finishing where all the restoration, sanding and polishing steps take place. After clamping the inlaid wood piece for around 24 hours, it is time to begin the finishing process.
Remove the clamps from the inlaid wood piece.

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Using the belt sander machine, sand the inlaid wood piece with a sandpaper grit (P60), until the extruded inlaid materials (bone & ebony) become on the same level as mother of pearl.

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Using the orbital sander, sand the inlaid wood piece with a sandpaper grit (P80), until the extruded inlaid materials become smooth and you even the whole surface.

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Sand the inlaid wood piece with the orbital sander using a sandpaper grit (P120) to become smoother, then we repeat the same process using orbital sander sandpaper grits (P180-P220-P320 and P400).

After being sure that it become very smooth, we begin the polishing process by using a clean cotton rag. In the beginning we use paraffin oil then the beeswax.

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Put some paraffin oil on the clean cotton rag and apply it directly on the surface with the same direction as wood grains. Let it dry for 15 minutes, then use sandpaper grit 400 and sand the piece of wood. Repeat this same process and let it dry again.

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Put the beeswax on the cotton rag and apply it directly on the surface with the same direction as wood grains. Let it dry for 15 minutes, then use sandpaper grit 400 and sand the piece of wood. Repeat the same process and let it dry again (4 to 5 times).

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