Workshop

Making small objects in small batches

Between the one-off piece and series production lies the small batch: the same object, a few times, in one run. At Reihax that usually means two to five pen holders. This page shows which steps can be done together, which each piece needs on its own, and where the time really goes.

A small batch in eight steps. Choosing wood, cutting, pressing, finish and final check run for the whole batch; dry fit, assembly and sanding piece by piece. Assembly and sanding take the most time.

What a small batch is

A one-off piece is designed once and built once. A series is designed once and built many times, with machines that repeat every step. The small batch lies in between: an object is made a few times in one run, and every piece is still fitted, sanded and checked by hand.

At Reihax that usually means two to five pen holders at a time, such as THINK BIGGER or FOCUS. This scale is typical of small intarsia objects: big enough for the preparation of each step to be spread over several pieces, and small enough for every piece to get full attention.

Four Reihax pen holders side by side: THINK BIGGER, FOCUS, Ich ♥ Bayern and FOCUS in a second pairing of wood — Four pen holders on the same basic shape. A shared carcass makes it easier to build different motifs in one batch.

Why work in batches

Almost every step in intarsia has a preparation that has to be done regardless of the number of pieces: choosing and comparing sheets of veneer, setting up the laser and making a test cut, mixing the glue, preparing the press, getting the finish ready and making the workplace free of dust. Doing this preparation once for several pieces saves time without saving on care.

The second advantage is comparison. Pieces made together lie side by side: when choosing the wood, after pressing and in the end in the same light. A piece that is too light, too dark or slightly shifted stands out at once next to its siblings. Waiting times, such as glue and finish drying, overlap instead of following one another.

But a batch has limits too. A fault in the preparation hits every piece at once, a template that is wrong for instance (working with templates). And attention drops when the fifth piece is to be fitted as carefully as the first. The practical upper limit is usually set by the press: only as many pieces belong in a batch as the press holds with even pressure.

What runs together and what piece by piece

Not every step can be combined. The rule of thumb: steps in which material or a machine is prepared run together. Steps in which the hand works on a single piece and the eye has to check every result run piece by piece.

Choosing the wood, together: the sheets for every piece come from the same flitch if possible and are checked side by side (judging veneer quality).
Cutting, together: at Reihax the laser cuts the pattern pieces, the knife the straight edges and trimming. The pattern pieces of every piece come from the same file, and the test cut applies to the whole batch.
Dry fit, piece by piece: every piece is laid out without glue and checked under light before it is put together.
Assembly, piece by piece: fitting the pieces and securing them with veneer tape. Nothing can be combined here.
Pressing, together: as many pieces as the press holds evenly, with the same cauls and the same pressing time (gluing and pressing).
Sanding, piece by piece: grit by grit, removing the dust between the stages, surface by surface.
Finish, together: each coat is applied for the whole batch; the sanding between coats and the check happen on every piece.
Final check, together: all the pieces side by side, in the same light, against a reference piece.

Where the time goes

When people think of intarsia, they think first of cutting. In a small batch at Reihax that is not the biggest item: the laser cuts the pattern pieces comparatively quickly, and the knife only takes care of straight edges and trimming. Most of the time goes into two steps that cannot be combined: assembly with veneer tape, and sanding.

Joints between light and dark veneers of Flow No. 2, pressed and not yet sanded — After pressing, before sanding: whether the joints are closed is decided in assembly, piece by piece.

Assembly: every piece is laid against its neighbours, checked, reworked with the knife if needed and secured with tape. On small objects the pieces are small and many, and every joint has to be closed, because it is looked at up close. A pattern copied on screen in seconds is laid piece by piece in the workshop (assembling an intarsia).

Sanding: a pen holder has several visible faces and many edges, and every face goes through the whole sequence of grits. Between the stages the dust is removed, so that dark sanding dust from wenge or walnut is not rubbed into the pores of light woods. Edges must not get round in the process, and the thin veneer must not be sanded through anywhere (sanding veneer).

Four details of Flow No. 2 side by side: before sanding, after 120 grit, after 240 grit and after 400 grit — Four stages of sanding on Flow No. 2. On a pen holder every visible face goes through the same sequence.

So if you plan a small batch, you plan around these two steps. They decide how many pieces are finished in a day, and they are the reason why more pieces per batch shorten the work per piece only so far.

The same, but not identical

The pieces of a small batch should belong together. Built the same means: the same shape, the same pattern, the same joints, the same surface. They will never be identical, because every veneer has its own figure, and that is not the aim either. What has to be the same is kept the same:

Material: sheets from the same flitch for every piece of one pairing of wood.
Shape: the same file or template in the same version for the whole batch.
Sequence: the same sequence of grits, the same finish, the same number of coats.
Assignment: the pieces of each object stay together and are marked, so that no piece ends up in the wrong object.
Reference: a successful piece serves as the standard against which the batch is compared at the end.

A batch can also contain variants: the same motif in several pairings of wood. Shape and sequence stay the same; only the wood changes. That is exactly when it shows how strongly the choice of wood decides the character of an object (wood combinations for intarsia).

Three THINK BIGGER pen holders: wenge with oak, walnut with ash, ash with mahogany — The same shape, three pairings of wood: wenge with oak, walnut with ash, ash with mahogany.

The carcass

The veneer needs a stable, flat substrate. Different boards are used for the carcasses of the Reihax pen holders: raw particleboard, MDF, plywood or multi-ply. For a small batch, which board it is matters less than that every carcass in the batch is prepared the same way: flat, clean, free of dust and acclimatised in the same room as the veneer. What sets the kinds of board apart is covered in substrates.

Typical mistakes in a small batch

Too big a batch: more pieces than the press holds evenly, or more than can be assembled carefully in a day.
A fault in the pattern: a wrong file or a worn template is in every piece. A test cut before the batch catches it.
Swapped pieces: pieces of different objects or pairings of wood get mixed up. Separate trays and marking prevent it.
Carried-over dust: dark sanding dust from one piece lands on the light wood of the next. The workplace is cleaned between pieces.
The last piece: patience drops at the end of a batch. The last piece gets the same check as the first.

Checklist for a small batch

Batch size set by the press and the time for assembly
Veneer for every piece from the same flitch, checked side by side
File or template in one version, test cut in the real veneer
Carcasses flat, clean and acclimatised
The pieces of each object kept apart and marked
Dry fit for every piece before assembly
The same sequence of grits and the same finish for every piece, dust removed between pieces
Final check of all pieces side by side against a reference piece

Frequently asked questions

What is a small batch in intarsia?

An object made a few times in one run, rather than singly or in large numbers. At Reihax that usually means two to five pen holders. Steps such as choosing the wood, cutting, pressing and finishing can be done for all the pieces together, while assembly and sanding can only be done piece by piece.

How many pieces should a small batch have?

Enough for the preparation to pay off, and few enough for every piece to get full attention. The number is usually limited by the press: only as many pieces should go into a batch as the press can hold evenly. At Reihax it is usually two to five.

Where does most of the time go on small intarsia objects?

At Reihax, into assembly with veneer tape and into sanding. Cutting with the laser is comparatively quick. Assembly and sanding, on the other hand, can hardly be combined, because every piece has to be fitted on its own and every surface sanded and checked on its own.

Do all the pieces of a small batch look the same?

They are built the same, but not identical. Shape, pattern and build-up agree, but every veneer has its own figure and colour. Sheets from the same flitch, the same template and the same sequence of sanding and finishing keep the differences small.