WWA Info Exchange

And by Penn State, I mean the college . . . not the dust collector. (You know how confused I was when I first started woodworking)

I finally finished this one. Well, actually I finished it back at the end of June, but it got delivered this past weekend, so I can finally post pictures!





I had a 4' section of a wide curly maple board sitting in my shop for a few years now. This seemed like a good use for some of it.

This is a good sized tray. It's about 24"x15".





I was real happy with my freehand inlays this time . . . specifically the lion head. I didn't have many gaps to fill at all.



The bottom even turned out pretty:



They're hard to see, but there are some hand cut dovetails there:



The finish is a few coats of super blond shellac followed by a bunch of sprayed on coats of Target's satin lacquer (EM6000).

I had never worked with wenge before either. It's pretty. I was careful because I read that it splinters easily.

My local lumber guy helped me out a lot with this one. I don't have a band saw, so he re-sawed the wenge to get me 1/2" thick material, plus the thinner part for the inlay. I also brought the inlays back to him to have him run them through his drum sander. Normally, I send my inlays through the planer to get everything flush. But this one was too wide for my planer, and I didn't feel like sitting there with a hand sander. I also wanted him to use the drum sander rather than his planer . . . I was nervous the figured maple would tear out.

Enough rambling. I like how this one turned out, and apparently others did too . . . I'm being commissioned to make another one for a Christmas present.

-Brian

WOW Brian, that's stunning! I did a small box some time ago from Wenge and fell in love with the stuff. The wife hates it, thinks it's too dark, but you've really shown what it can do. Great work!

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Frank
WWACOAUX#1
"I love the smell of Sawdust in the morning, it smells like, victory."
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WOW!

That's all I can say. You guys (and Gals) with you inlay work just blow the socks off me! I also love the dovetails!

Wow!

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C J K
in beautiful -
Oxford GA, USA

very, very nice! Nice execution.

How do you like the Target lacquer? Water based right? Dries Quickly?

I think I like it. I don't have much experience with any one type of finish . . . I seem to try a new one for each project.

But yes, it is water based. And it dried pretty quick. I seem to finish in my nice dusty shop, so the quicker drying the better. I still end up with a few specs of dust in the finish, but there are definitely less with the lacquer.

I may have put it down a little thick. It seemed to take about a half hour to dry in my air conditioned basement.

-Brian

this BUCKEYE fan says, that's a great job !!!!

OK, this Terp has to give you props...

Great work on the paws on the sides. Very cool. Were you working off of an 'approved' drawing by the University for the paw marks, or did you go it alone with a design?

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That's the "official" paw design. I found a pdf of all the PSU approved logos. But shhhhhh . . . don't tell them.

-Brian

Terrific design!

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Jess
my gallery
more photos

Hmm ... I have a few friends who are fans of the Nittany Kittens. They'd probably appreciate this too. Nice job!

Nice job Brian, looks great.

Have a great day.

You know. Brian, even this Hurryin' Hoosier fan fan thinks your Nittany Lion looks really great!!!!

Verna

I grew up a Penn State fan, so I naturally love it.. but I gotta tell you that even if I wasn't that work would be enough for me to convert!

Awesome job,
Lawrence