Inlays in Hardwood floors

[Rob V]

Im about to do put down hardwood floors in my new gameroom. Part of which
will hold a poker table. Its 4" wide maple hardwood. Id like to route some
inlays of playing card symbols (Heart, Diamond, Spade, & Club)
around the outside to give it a unique look.
Ive done inlays before normal wood so im not worried about that (I have the
tools to do it)

But I have 2 questions.
1 - the flooring is tongue & groove how deep should I route the actual
cavity (for lack of a better word) for where symbol will sit? Should it go
all the way thru? Is there a good rule of thumb?

2 - Obviously - Im going to need contrasting woods - idealy Red and Black
(red wood and ebony??)
Ebony being a pretty premium price - I was thinking about staining some
cherry red and black - but im not sure how deep the stain will go. Im
assuming that after the inlay - the floor is then sanded and polyed - so not
sure of how the stain will end up after sanding.

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks

-Rob

Also - there was a site out there that I found a while ago w/ someone that
did a fishtank inlay in his hardwood floors - he had a great step by step
process how he did it - I bookmarked it - but have since had to reformat the
drive and pretty much lost my bookmarks. Anyone happen to know it?

Thanks

 

[Lyle B. Harwood]

€ 1 - the flooring is tongue & groove how deep should I route the actual
€ cavity (for lack of a better word) for where symbol will sit? Should it go
€ all the way thru? Is there a good rule of thumb?

No need to go deeper than the top of the tongue & groove- that's the
limit to the life of the floor.

If I were to do this, I would use Ebony and Bloodwood or Rosewood.

I wouldn't stain it. Chosen carefully, those woods will be pretty close
to the colors you want.

Best of luck, and let us know how it comes out!

 

[Andy Dingley]

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

Don't inlay a floor.

Inlay a plate, then inlay the plate into the floor. It's easier to
work and you can stop worrying about the depth of the T&G.