♪♪ Narrator: TO MAKE EACH
INLAID CABINET DOOR, A WOODWORKER GLUES THE PATTERN
ONTO THE WOOD, MAKING SURE THAT IT'S
PERFECTLY CENTERED. THEN, USING A ROUTER, HE CUTS
ABOUT 3 MILLIMETERS DEEP, MAKING A GROOVE
ALONG THE PATTERN'S PERIMETER AND CUTTING OUT THE PARTS THAT WILL BE INLAID
WITH MOTHER-OF-PEARL. ♪♪ MEANWHILE, USING ANOTHER COPY
OF THE PATTERN, A WORKER MAKES TEMPLATES
BY CUTTING OUT THE SAME PARTS THE WOODWORKER ROUTED
OUT OF THE CABINET DOOR. EACH TEMPLATE IS MARKED
EITHER PINK, WHITE, OR GREEN. SHE GLUES IT INTO
A 3-MILLIMETER-THICK PIECE OF THE CORRESPONDING COLOR
OF MOTHER-OF-PEARL. THE NEXT CRAFTSPERSON
TAKES ONE PIECE AT A TIME AND, HOLDING IT STEADY
WITH PLIERS, CAREFULLY SAWS
AROUND THE TEMPLATE WITH A 1-MILLIMETER-WIDE BLADE. ONCE SHE HAS CUT
ALL THE PIECES, SHE REASSEMBLES THE PATTERN. THE NEXT CRAFTSPERSON
SPREADS ADHESIVE PASTE INTO THE CUTOUTS
IN THE CABINET DOOR. THEN HE FILLS EACH CUTOUT WITH ITS CORRESPONDING PIECE
OF MOTHER-OF-PEARL. FIVE HOURS FROM NOW,
ONCE THE ADHESIVE HAS DRIED, HE RUNS A SANDER OVER THE DESIGN TO REMOVE THE PAPER
AND EXCESS ADHESIVE, SMOOTH THE WOOD,
AND POLISH THE MOTHER-OF-PEARL. THEN AN ARTIST ETCHES FINE
DETAIL INTO THE MOTHER-OF-PEARL. THIS PROVIDES TEXTURE,
DIMENSION, AND EXPRESSION TO OBJECTS AND CHARACTERS WHICH, UNTIL NOW,
WERE MERELY BLANK SHAPES.
