Marquetry for a Standing Desk

The Boulle Technique is a Great Entry Point to Marquetry

Its been about 3 years since I first started messing around with marquetry and I absolutely love it!  You can take a very basic project and make it extraordinary by adding a bit of marquetry to it.  This standing desk is a perfect example.  After all its just a slab of wood screwed to a metal base.  No joinery at all.  But the finished result really makes a statement.  Moreover I hope to show that marquetry is not nearly as difficult as many believe.

The Boulle technique makes assembling your packet of veneers very simple.  It also simplifies the cutting process since you just follow the pattern and rely on the stacked nature for all the pieces to fit together.  There are ways to make the cutting go faster and more accurately but when getting started I like that only a fret saw is necessary to make a stunning marquetry pattern.