Wood for Marquetry, Inlay and Intarsia
Solid milled sheets from 0.6 mm upwards — thicker and more forgiving than commercial veneer, in a colour range that lets you build a picture without dyeing anything yourself.
Commercial veneer is sliced at 0.5–0.6 mm and sold flat, brittle and often buckled. It works, but it leaves nothing to sand: one careless pass through the picture and you are into the substrate.
Sawn and thicknessed hardwood sheet is a different material. At 0.6, 0.8 or 1 mm it behaves like thin solid wood — it can be sanded flush after assembly, it holds a crisp knife edge, and because the colour runs through the full thickness there is no risk of sanding through to a paler core.
This guide covers which of our species to use for which colour, how to pick a thickness, and how to cut, glue and finish a panel without buckling it.
Building a palette without dyes
Marquetry lives or dies on tonal separation. Five natural species plus dyed hornbeam gives you a range from near-white through pink-brown to black, which is enough for most pictorial and geometric work before you reach for stains.
| Species | Tone | Grain | Use in a picture |
|---|---|---|---|
| European white maple | Near-white, cool | Very fine, almost featureless | Highlights, sky, water, background fields |
| Alaskan yellow cedar | Pale warm yellow | Straight, fine | Mid-light tones, sand, stonework |
| Castello boxwood | Pale cream, golden in raking light | Extremely fine | Fine detail, lettering, stringing, banding |
| Swiss pear | Warm pink-brown | Very fine, uniform | Mid tones, skin, timber, architecture |
| Black hornbeam | Near-black, dyed through | Fine | Outlines, shadow, stringing, ebony-look borders |
| Coloured hornbeam | Brown, red, green, yellow | Fine | Accent colour without staining a natural species |
Dyed hornbeam is coloured through the full thickness, so sanding after assembly does not reveal a pale core.
Hardwood sheets from 0.6 mm · Black hornbeam sheets — outlines and stringing
Choosing a thickness
Thickness is a trade-off between how easily the piece cuts and how much you can sand afterwards. For classical marquetry assembled window- or double-bevel style, 0.6 and 0.8 mm behave closest to veneer while still leaving sanding depth. For inlay let into a solid ground, 1 mm and above gives a shoulder you can register against. Intarsia, where each piece is shaped and thicknessed individually, uses 3–5 mm.
| Technique | Thickness | Imperial | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Classical / window marquetry | 0.6–0.8 mm | 0.024–0.031 in | Cuts easily with knife or scroll saw, still sandable |
| Double-bevel scroll saw | 0.8–1 mm | 0.031–0.039 in | Stiff enough not to lift at the kerf |
| Inlay into solid ground | 1–2 mm | 0.039–0.079 in | Gives a positive shoulder and a deeper glue line |
| Stringing and banding | 0.6–1 mm strips | 0.024–0.039 in | Bends into curves when damp |
| Intarsia | 3–5 mm | 1/8–3/16 in | Allows carving and level changes |
All sheets are held to a tight thickness tolerance across the sheet, so pieces from different sheets sit level in the same picture.
Milled strips for stringing and banding · Square strips for intarsia and inlay stock
Cutting methods
Sawn sheet is stiffer than sliced veneer, which is an advantage on a scroll saw and a small extra effort with a knife. With a knife, score repeatedly rather than trying to sever in one pass — the fine grain of pear, boxwood and maple will follow a scored line cleanly, whereas forcing the blade splits along the grain.
On a scroll saw, a 2/0 or 3/0 skip-tooth blade at moderate speed gives a kerf narrow enough for double-bevel work. Tape the packet, and back the stack with a sacrificial sheet to stop breakout on the underside.
Laser cutting works well for repeated geometric elements. Our 3 mm laser sheets are the obvious stock for intarsia components; for thin marquetry elements the 0.6–1 mm modelling sheets cut very quickly but need masking to keep the smoke residue off the face.
Gluing up without buckling
Buckling comes from moisture, not clamping. Water-based glue swells thin wood on one face only, and the panel curls before the glue grabs. The two reliable answers are a low-moisture adhesive or a press that holds the panel flat until the moisture has equalised.
For a small panel, a cold press between two cauls with a sheet of melamine either side and even clamping pressure is enough. For larger work, veneer softener on the marquetry and a slow PVA in a press gives the flattest result. Hide glue remains the traditional choice and is reversible, which matters for restoration.
Always balance the panel: veneer or sheet on the back face as well as the front, of similar thickness, or the assembly will cup as it dries.
- Balance every panel — front and back, similar thickness.
- Even clamping pressure across the whole face, not just the edges.
- Leave in the press until fully dry, not just until tacky.
- Let the panel acclimatise flat and weighted for a day before finishing.
Sanding and finishing a picture
The reason to use sawn sheet instead of veneer is here: at 0.8 mm you can flatten the assembled picture properly. Sand with a flat block through 180, 240 and 320 grit, working across the joints rather than along one piece, and stop as soon as the surface is level.
Avoid water-based finishes on a freshly assembled panel. A thin shellac sealer locks the surface and stops dark dust from black hornbeam migrating into the pale maple next to it, which is the classic way a crisp picture goes muddy. Build the final finish over the sealer.
Ordering sheets and custom sizes
Standard sheet sizes cover most work, and mixed thicknesses in one order let you match technique to element. If you need a species at a thickness we do not list, or larger sheets for a single panel, the custom quote calculator prices it directly from the dimensions.
Custom quote calculator · Pillar guide: why precision hardwood matters
Frequently asked questions
- How is sawn hardwood sheet different from veneer?
- Veneer is sliced at around 0.5–0.6 mm and is brittle and often buckled. Our sheets are sawn and thicknessed from solid stock in 0.6 mm and up, so they hold a crisp knife edge, stay flat and can be sanded level after assembly.
- What thickness should I use for marquetry?
- 0.6–0.8 mm for classical and window marquetry, 0.8–1 mm for double-bevel scroll saw work, 1–2 mm for inlay into a solid ground and 3–5 mm for intarsia.
- Which species give the best contrast?
- European white maple for near-white, castello boxwood for pale cream detail, Swiss pear for warm mid tones and black hornbeam for the darkest outline and shadow work.
- Will sanding remove the colour from dyed hornbeam?
- No. Coloured and black hornbeam are dyed through the full thickness, so sanding after assembly does not expose a pale core.
- How do I stop a marquetry panel from buckling?
- Use a low-moisture adhesive, press the panel flat between cauls until fully dry, and balance it with sheet on the back face of similar thickness to the front.