Recall that thread I started a couple weeks ago about the big burl stump? Well, I started on the first chunk of it today. I know the photo date says 4/24 but it was today. I put new batteries in the camera and it lost a day. :dontknow:Go figure? Anyway....
This is absolute bottom section of that stump that I dig up. Here it's sitting on the bench about to get a shave.
My initial plan:widea: was to use it in this inverted position and lay a slab across those roots once they were leveled out. Here it is after planing down to level things out.
After flipping it over right side up, (as it was originally growing), I looked at the grain and thought I saw some neat burl going on.
After planing it down level and smooth, there was some rather nice burl in there and a good bit of other cool grain patterns.
All that grain and burl shows up much better after a generous application of BLO.
And here's a closeup of the burl patterns.
Needless to say, I could use a better camera and set up for picture taking. You'll just have to trust me that pics don't do this one justice. Now all I gotta do is get it to dry right and not split all over. All those roots hold a lot of water.
Oh, shameless plug for a router bit. A few months back I bought one the Katana brand bits from MLCS Woodworking, ( http://www.mlcswoodworking.com/ ) just too see if it performed as advertised. WOW!:banana: Compared to all the other bits I've bought and tried out, including Freud and couple others, the Katana bit slices through this maple here like it's cheddar cheese. To top it off, after numerous passes over the top side of that stump and then cleaning the bit with fume-free oven cleaner, I can't tell it's been used. I can still shave with the edge. That didn't happen with any of the other bits I've used. I'm sold on these, hands down. ( Okay, where's my unsolicited spokesperson's check??):gar-La; Thanks for looking.
This is absolute bottom section of that stump that I dig up. Here it's sitting on the bench about to get a shave.
My initial plan:widea: was to use it in this inverted position and lay a slab across those roots once they were leveled out. Here it is after planing down to level things out.
After flipping it over right side up, (as it was originally growing), I looked at the grain and thought I saw some neat burl going on.
After planing it down level and smooth, there was some rather nice burl in there and a good bit of other cool grain patterns.
All that grain and burl shows up much better after a generous application of BLO.
And here's a closeup of the burl patterns.
Needless to say, I could use a better camera and set up for picture taking. You'll just have to trust me that pics don't do this one justice. Now all I gotta do is get it to dry right and not split all over. All those roots hold a lot of water.
Oh, shameless plug for a router bit. A few months back I bought one the Katana brand bits from MLCS Woodworking, ( http://www.mlcswoodworking.com/ ) just too see if it performed as advertised. WOW!:banana: Compared to all the other bits I've bought and tried out, including Freud and couple others, the Katana bit slices through this maple here like it's cheddar cheese. To top it off, after numerous passes over the top side of that stump and then cleaning the bit with fume-free oven cleaner, I can't tell it's been used. I can still shave with the edge. That didn't happen with any of the other bits I've used. I'm sold on these, hands down. ( Okay, where's my unsolicited spokesperson's check??):gar-La; Thanks for looking.
