ScottR

2 hours ago, Bizman62 said:

Whoa! You've carved most of the top away! My wife wouldn't like such a table, she tends to put spread stuff on every horizontal surface. That table wouldn't fit the bill for her!

Thinking of that reminded me of an incident that happened almost three decades ago. I had just divorced and moved to an apartment and got most of my stuff in place. So I thought I had earned a sip of Cognac. I took a crystal snifter and poured some, sat in my easy chair and took a drink. Then I put the glass on the corner of the side table... No, I was going to put the glass on the corner of the table. Except that there was no corner there! I had bought me a triangular table for my tiny apartment! Crash went the snifter. I could find an almost similar one at the local jewelry store but the noble beverage got sucked into a rag instad of my innards. Just saying...

I suppose I have gotten past the halfway point of the top layer. And my wife is the same way. No horizontal surface shall go uncovered. But not to worry. What I'm carving is the pedestal for the table top. The opening post was made so long ago you may not remember, but the table top this pedestal is going to be supporting is a slab of live edge maple burl. The shape of it made me think of the shape of a tree's canopy......and this is where that thought led.

SR

On 11/5/2022 at 2:30 PM, avengers63 said:

In other news, I have a secret project about to happen. It involves wenge, Mary Kay white, pink monther-of-toilet seat, and 70's Hofner pups

SR

That thing does sound great!

BTW, I love the big middle clamp on you body glue up. I love to see ingenuity using common objects like that.

SR

Maybe from a slightly different point of view?

SR

I'm starting to feel like a stranger around here. I apologize for that--I'm just having the crazy busiest year in a couple of decades. I guess I know what Rad feels like.

And the more I build this thing the more I want to build another guitar.....before I forget how.

And it seems like a long time between updates. That's because I want pictures that actually show progress. I can see it and feel it with my hands and recognize it from the gallons of wood chips I've swept up, but it appears to be more subtle in the pics.

Anyway, here is the next installment.

SR

Very well done Ash! Congrats.

SR

Uncovering more of the branches. The crooked pieces from the branch tips to the main block are just tabs for strength....guarding against accidental pruning.

SR

1 minute ago, mistermikev said:

yes, our dog is just a rat terrier... but she gets those duck treats in her and lookout.  my wife did laugh hehe.

 

btw I hope on this project... maybe this is the one you will leave it all "bumpy"?  I know, I know... it'll look cool smoothed out too... but it looks really great and you can see a thousand chisel strikes right there in the piece.  

That is an option I'm considering. The jury is still out. I did another carving in the past that featured wood and rocks, and I smoothed the rocks and left the wood rough carved, and that was cool too. Rough carving leaves a bunch of places that are chipped, torn, splintered and raw fibers all over the place. Those create their own special joys in the finishing process.....so the jury is still out.

SR

18 hours ago, mistermikev said:

hehe... you don't make it to 35 years without some farts lol.  Have only made it (carry the one) 27 here but in that time I've realized that there is always going to be one of two that will want more sex, one of two who will do all the cleaning, one of two who will spend all the money, one of two who is responsible and does the bookkeeping... and if you are lucky you get to see that flipped back and forth between the two.  that said, I have pretty consistently been the farter, but lately our dog has been giving me a hellofa run for my money.  haha!  

I hope you won't mind that I share your story w my wife lolz.

 

also... table is coming along right nicely.  

Dogs can be deadly, but in a relatively small space. You can hold your breath and walk out of them.

And, not  at all. Anytime you can make your wife smile is money in the bank.

And, thanks!

SR

On 10/1/2022 at 3:49 AM, Akula said:

That does make perfect sense - a shiny surface to begin with is the way to go. I'm interested to know what kinds of wood you've done this with? My Tassie Blackwood is very open-pored with a wavy grain, so I had assumed I wouldn't be able to go much higher than about 400 grit, but I'm now kicking myself for not giving it a go anyways.

I'm going up to 600 or 800 with the slurry coats, or even higher until I'm happy with it. After I start adding more polyurethane to the mix I'll go to finer grits again.

 

 - Jam

That ol' bear in my avatar pic is pecan with a lot of spalting done exactly the way I described. I've done maple, myrtle, mesquite, mahogany, walnut, ziricote, bocote, ebony and many others the same way. Open grain stuff will polish up nicely too, but it still has the open grain.

SR

On 9/30/2022 at 4:15 PM, avengers63 said:

I was seriously thinking files, rasps, and curved scrapers. This burl is pretty soft and would prolly respond well to hand tools. There might even be room for a Dremel or the Wagner Saf-T-Planer.

 

That should do nicely.

SR

On 9/29/2022 at 8:07 AM, Akula said:

What a piece of wood, though!

Amen brother!

The way I've gotten a high shine with Danish oil is to actually make the wood shine first. Sand/polish up to an insanely fine grit like micromesh 12000, and then wipe on the Danish. Let it soak in and then wipe off the excess. Repeat until no areas will soak in any more and then up up that excess and let it dry for a couple of days. No abrasion resistance but man does it look great!

SR

I did that on a couple of early builds. It's a great way to get an even thickness on the edge of the carve. Now you just need to use some gouges to blend the cove into the rest of the top.

SR

13 hours ago, Mr Natural said:

This is seriously badass. Coming along nicely.

+1 on being married just long enough.

Thanks Scotty!

6 hours ago, Bizman62 said:

One reason for marrying my wife was that she's been commenting like that since the very first encounter. What's even more hilarious, it comes fully naturally - she tends to talk before thinking...

Yeah, a good sense of humor is seriously attractive!

SR

Sometimes you have been married just long enough.

Last night I came in from the back porch where I pretty much spend all my evenings, and said good night to my wife as she rocked in her lounger, watching TV and eating what I assumed to be her dinner.  It was a bowl full of sliced cucumbers. I said night baby, are you planning on farting all night?

M y bride of thirty five years nailed the response.

With very wide eyes, a tiny curl on her lips, she asked in a little girl voice: " You want me to?"

It was perfect! I broke up, and said "Hell no!"

Thirty five years of farty nights was more than enough. It's awesome to be married to a woman with her sense of timing and delivery though!

Cheers!

-Scott

Branches are like roots with no rocks....less support.

My hands are sore....

SR

Dammit boy!

(That's a Texas phrase) (Means wow!)

That's going to be serious business when you sand it all flush!

SR

Excellent start!

SR

That was a productive weekend!

Love the logo inlay.

SR

That is gorgeous. Beautiful piece of timber and lovely craftsmanship.

SR

We've been attacked by the nocturnal aboretum beavers.

Otherwise known as nighttime flat tailed tree chewers.

SR

Well done!

SR

On 9/5/2022 at 9:44 AM, Akula said:

I also stabbed a precise hole in my index finger with a dead-sharp chisel while doing it, which put me in a sort of a mood for the rest of the day. 

I can't tell you how many times I've done that. Well maybe I can if I count the scars on my left hand.....

SR

On 8/27/2022 at 10:36 AM, avengers63 said:

Binding looks great when it's done, but I do not care for the process. It's not difficult... I just don't like it.

I take exactly the same position on the subject.

SR

Excavating in the sky....

This feels quite strange to me. Carving the roots feels right because they have a base, they are literally grounded in the ground. Carving branches  is similar, shape wise, but they are not grounded at all. They end up in the sky...which is rather open ended. Where do they stop?

SR