I am in the process of creating an end grain cutting board which is made up of Maple only, but would like to decorate it by inlaying other types of wood into it (Walnut for example). The cutting board size is 18" by 12" and 1.2" thick, and the inlay will be near the a corner of the board with a size of 5" by 5" and .35" deep. Would having this inlay affect the structural integrity of the board?
I am doing the inlay by using the v-inlay method as described in the image below at and angle of 45 degrees which most probably means that the flat base of the inlay wont be touching the board, just the edges: