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Our son's finance' brought us a gorgeous, hand-woven, silk tapestry as a memento of her service in Operation Enduring Freedom. She is an Army Staff Sargeant, Chinook Crew Chief, and Instructor. Afghanistan was her 2nd deployment. Without a good means to display it our home, the precious gift languished in a closet until recently.

The simple back-plaque is quarter-sawn oak, 5" x 43", shaped with a router template. Simplicity ended there. The 3/4" square rod is captured in a mortise at each end. The square stock was mortised and then worked on the lathe. I have never had cause to try to turn out a round ball, little own in duplicate. Add, the dangers of chippy oak and a gapping mortise spinning in the middle of the project. As I worked nervously and I thought about how happy I was going to be to finally put my balls on the workbench. (My mind wanders.)

The up and downside: The tapestry looks beautiful in our coffee room. The downside, it called my wife's attention to the wallpaper in the room. She is an extremist "Wall Paper Tear-orist." Here we go again - shredding, spackle, sanding, and dust clouds. No doubt, the room will be re-papered by Spring.

2017 Update: As predicted, she repapered the room. Admittedly, it's gorgeous. And, my woodworking was demoted to a guest bedroom.

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You came up with the best way to display a piece like that. Easy way to rotate blankets and display items from time to time.

I brought back a few souvenirs from the war and it is fun to look at them years later.

Nice build….............
 

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Beautiful way to show this wall hanging!
Did you turn those ball ends?

Eight tours of duty, you must be proud, isn't that quite a few tours?
 

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Thanks you, brothers, for the kind comments.

Hans, I did turn both spheres. Very tedious work. They are very close to round and identical. Unlike other lathe projects, one chip or catch would been a total failure. Took lots of time, measurements, and a light touch.

It is pretty common for our military members to have high number of deployments if they stay in. In her case, 2 combat tours, one each in Iraq and Afghanistan plus 6 tours in other parts of the world. Eight deploysment in 17 years of service means she has been out of the country 8 years. Chinook Guard and active duty flight crews are in high demand. Chinooks can move troops, equipment, and supplies more safely given the roadside threat of IEDs. Chinooks are also used extensively in Special Operations due to their ability to insert 30+ men and all their equipment day or night..
 

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A gr8 accessory to hang that beautiful tapestry.
 
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