Making a colour resin inlay
At Classic we have a number of techniques we use to depict images on our memorial bench designs and one of our favourite things to do is the colour resin inlay. Read on to find out what’s involved…
Preparing the artwork.
The first step is to prepare the artwork in software. In this case, we’ve taken a photograph of a sunflower that has been drawn on a chalkboard.
We then use special software to convert the photograph into vectors.
Vectors are mathematical shapes that the CNC machine can map and follow.
The sunflower underneath is made of 10 individual colours so there are 10 sets of vectors each representing a different colour.
The video below demonstrates how these “pools” of colour which are made of vectors all go together to make up the image.
Now all we have to do is replicate this in real life upon a Classic Memorial Bench.
Carving the shapes into the wood…
The next thing to do is carve the vectors into the wood and fill it full of epoxy resin mixed with artists pigments.
The simulation on the right shows what will be carved out for our very first colour.
As it’s for a memorial bench, this inlaid design needs to last the lifetime of the bench so we carve it deeply, up to 20mm depth depending on the design. A truly permanent addition to the bench
We can’t carve out for the second colour until the first colour is set rock hard so we can only do one colour per day.
It takes about an hour each day to carve out the vectors and mix and pour that day’s colour.
Pouring all of the colours.
This image shows how the design looks (from the top) with three colours, and six colours until eventually all 10 vectors have been carved into the wood and filled with resin.
Artists’ pigment powders are used to colour the resin. These are the type that is used to make oil paints and are designed to be fade resistant.
What a mess it all looks just now but clearing all this up to reveal the image is the best part.
Skimming off the excess glue…
Here we see the cnc machine skimming off the surface with an end mill to reveal the image. Great care is taken to just take the tool to the surface of the wood so that there will be minimal sanding required.
Our artisan then uses a palm sander and progresses to eventually a very fine 2000 grit to then polish the image.
…and clamped
Sash cramps are used here and the finished inlay is set in the centre of the bench back ladder.
The finished memorial bench
We invite you to take a look at our customer testimonials.
“… oh… WOW.. it IS … WONDERFUL. Thank you for a stunning creation. WOW…” (Kevin – Bench for Haydock Racecourse May 2018)
“The bench is very solid, heavy and well made, and I’m sure will last for a long, long time.Thank you all very much.” – AH – Oct 2014 (Devon)