Project Information
I asked my best friend what he wanted for birthday and he said something to rest his feet on while sitting at the computer would be nice. Just something quickly thrown together. Not that I could ever do that, quickly do some simple thing and call it a day. So I came up with a design that had a few new things for me. Like Dovetails, or more precisely angled ones. It might sound easy, but while the ones on top were straightforward, I had to think long and hard about how the bottom ones work so I can put it all together properly. After too much thinking back and forth I finally figured out how to make me some paring blocks and how to mark and cut those bottom dovetails.
Then there was the task of cutting the groves for the inlay. Some bad choices and dumb mistakes made work harder than it would've needed to be, but that's part of learning to plan ahead better and take care I guess.
The main wood is european walnut. Initially I had another design planned(working on that now), which featured an inlay in the middle, but the beautiful black core of this board made me come up with a second one that would not hide most of it. The inlay strips are cut from Padauk I veneered with maple on both sides. Planing this was horrible, as it was the first wood that tore out no matter how fine a cut I took or how sharp the iron was. Guess I should've tried another angle on that micro bevel. Wonder if all exotics are as hard to work with as Padauk or Wenge?
Glued as usual with Hide and Bone glue and finished with a few coats of walnut oil. Another "nice" surprise from the Padauk was getting that red color bleeding into the maple or onto anything it touches.
Anyway, my friend hasn't seen it yet and if I get the other footstool done before he comes around, I'll let him choose whichever he likes more and try to sell the other one sometime.
Thanks in advance for any comments and sorry for not replying more to all those great projects of yours, but I try to push myself to spend more time working on stuff rather than being on the internet, although I still fail at that most of the time I'm afraid.
Then there was the task of cutting the groves for the inlay. Some bad choices and dumb mistakes made work harder than it would've needed to be, but that's part of learning to plan ahead better and take care I guess.
The main wood is european walnut. Initially I had another design planned(working on that now), which featured an inlay in the middle, but the beautiful black core of this board made me come up with a second one that would not hide most of it. The inlay strips are cut from Padauk I veneered with maple on both sides. Planing this was horrible, as it was the first wood that tore out no matter how fine a cut I took or how sharp the iron was. Guess I should've tried another angle on that micro bevel. Wonder if all exotics are as hard to work with as Padauk or Wenge?
Glued as usual with Hide and Bone glue and finished with a few coats of walnut oil. Another "nice" surprise from the Padauk was getting that red color bleeding into the maple or onto anything it touches.
Anyway, my friend hasn't seen it yet and if I get the other footstool done before he comes around, I'll let him choose whichever he likes more and try to sell the other one sometime.
Thanks in advance for any comments and sorry for not replying more to all those great projects of yours, but I try to push myself to spend more time working on stuff rather than being on the internet, although I still fail at that most of the time I'm afraid.