VCarve Inlay clean-up

[Spindle]

New to this. Have a question. Could I run a V-carve inlay through a very light pass on my planer after bandsawing off the majority of the inlay wood? I worry it may chip out tight corners of the inlay.

[4DThinker]

It depends on the wood used, direction of grain, and how well you glued the inlay down. I have a horizontal drum sander and find that it does less damage than my planer will.

[jay pieper]

You could also create a flattening toolpath with a larger EM bit.
I normally skim the top by .005 a few times to get my self within reason
relative to the height of the inlay board. when I see I'm close I can than add
another inlay (male) piece.
If you don't need to add another piece than Just run your .005 toolpath (profile)
Until you skim off the top of your board everything will be flat.

Just the way I do it.

[dakotablue]

Trying to plane inlay is iffy at best, and a downright disaster at worst. I always use my widebelt sander but a drum sander is excellent also. In the absence of those, I would saw it first and then use a sanding block to flatten it. You can then sand or scrape it in the usual way.

[TReischl]

There is another reason that a planer is not a good idea:

Since the surface has edges sticking up the planer blades will attempt to lift the workpiece.

If you do not have a drum sander or wide belt then what I would do is run a standard endmill over the entire surface at Z0. Then sand the piece with an orbital sander.

[Spindle]

Thank all for your advice - makes total sense. No drum sander, so the cut and hand or rotary sand and/or scraper will do it.
Thank you again, it is immensely helpful to have experienced folks to learn from.