| Jigs used to cut the butterfly patch. The patch will be cut from the middle strip.
The two outer strips are used as spacers. Mike made the template held in his hand from 1/4"
acrylic. As it is hand made, it is not exactly symmetric so one side is marked "top" and that
side kept up through the process so the patch will fit the hole. The spacer strips and template are
held down with hot melt glue. A stiff putty knife is used to scrape the glue from the template.
The center strip from which the patch is cut is held down with double sided tape. This keeps
the patch from being thrown about by the router bit when it is cut loose.
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| The butterfly patch is cut from a piece of contrasting hard wood using a small router, here
a Porter Cable laminate trimmer. An inlay kit, consisting of a guide and bushing is used. The
patch is cut using the guide. Care must be taken not to cut into the template.
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| The template is transferred to the bowl. One of the obstacles Mike had to overcome was
how to use a flat template to cut a hole on a round bowl. Special spacer blocks are glued to the
bowl using hot melt glue. [Note: This special Mike Lee Custom Space Block series can be
purchased directly from Mike for ... "How much you got?"].
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| The bushing is added to the guide when the hole is cut in the bowl.
The bushing makes up for the stock that is lost due to the diameter of the router
bit. After the hole is routed, the corners must be cleaned up using a knife as the
router bit leaves rounded corners.
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| After checking the fit several times, the patch is glued and driven home.
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| Finally, the Foredom Micro-motor grinder is used to smooth the edges. If this is not
done, when the bowl is turned or sanded, the patch may be torn out.
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