Hardwood Floors August/September 2018

Together, the team spent a day-and-a-half inlaying the rst nine bars of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor in a 22-foot-long ribbon made from Gaboon ebony. e musical note inlays were 3/16” thick, and the sta was 1/4” thick. “ is tool is so precise; the inlays are cut a few thousands of an inch smaller than the opening in the oor to ensure an exact t,” said Scheller. “Once it was nished, it did, in fact, look like the oor was a piece of paper and somebody with a nice pen had wri en the notes on it. You couldn’t see any seams, which was what the client wanted.” e oor was then resanded to 80 grit, and then 100 grit and polished with the Satellite. Scheller also tried a unique sanding process to achieve his desired results. “Because I wanted it at, I tried something new. When I do handwork, I always favor sanding with a cork block with sandpaper wrapped around it. So I took a piece of cork ooring, and I backed up a 100 grit sanding screen,” said Scheller. “You could not feel where the

of constraint with the way music is wri en,” said Scheller. “ e way the notes are placed and the spacing within the measures, he was diligent about ge ing all that correct.” Scheller then spent two days meticulously racking the oor out to ensure that he had the perfect canvas. e product was 5” engineered maple. He rst matched the boards with more color together, and then progressed into the lighter colored boards. He also tried to match up the grain at the bu joints so that even though the boards were already long, it made them appear longer and gave the oor an even appearance. e oor was sanded before starting the inlay to 80 grit to ensure atness and that the router wouldn’t catch on anything. Next, Scheller set about placing the design within the oor using the Origin, a hand-held CNC machine. e user can transfer les to their tool using WiFi or USB. e system also relies upon a built-in camera and a special graphic tape for guidance, a visual positioning pa ern the system references to orient position and path in real time. “Origin uses a camera and

notes started; it was perfectly at. e ebony is much harder than the maple, so it’s di cult to sand evenly.” In the end, the client expressed that Scheller had more than exceeded their expectations. And Scheller credits Shaper’s innovation for helping him achieve his vision. “Projects like this show what can happen when a ooring installer is able to keep a project entirely within their own hands. We’ve seen a lot of cases where somebody has a vision and they are reluctant to pass it o to a CNC shop due to cost or loss of control. ey don’t get to see the entire project end-to-end,” said McEvoy. “Origin gives these artists the power to take the visions they have had in

specialized tape adhered to your material to build a digital version of your workspace. You can then create designs on the tool or import ones you created on the computer,” said Kiley McEvoy, Vice President of Product, Shaper Tools. “When cu ing, Origin will not only guide you where to cut, but will also auto- correct to keep the cu er exactly on your design path.” Sam Cu riss, Product Specialist at Shaper Tools, worked with Scheller in nalizing the design process.

Photo courtesy of Kiley McEvoy.

Something that McEvoy says is one of the many resources the company o ers to its users. “We’re working more and more with artists and contractors who need help with their designs. We’re helping them achieve their full vision.” Cu riss also ew in to see the project come together. “I came to help, but Mark had his process nailed pre y quickly. He is the ideal artist for a tool like Origin – he’s always looking for novel approaches to problems, and it was exciting to watch him adapt to the tool,” said Cu riss.

The system relies upon a built-in camera and a special graphic tape for guidance, a visual positioning pattern the system references to orient position and path in real time.

their minds and bring them into reality. We are really looking forward to seeing more and more projects like Mark’s oor.”  More information on the Origin can be found at shapertools.com .

the magazine of the national wood flooring association

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