Marbled 2 Piece Maple Tops

[Greg Haugen]

I recently demonstrated marbled 2 piece maple tops for our club. Here is a sample of a few of them, a couple from the actual demo and a couple that were made to prep for the demo. The discs are a little under 2" diameter. Finish is Behlen's Rockhard Table Top Varnish thinned with Mineral Spirits (60 varnish/40 spirits).

Comments welcome.

[George Clark]

Really beautiful, Greg. Any chance you could post a tutorial?

George

[Steve Schlumpf]

Wow - talk about a burst of color! I am sure these are big hits with kids of all ages! Nice work!

[Greg Haugen]

George,
I learned how to do this from Alan Lacer. It's a project on the Son Of Skew DVD. I know I have my handout somewhere on file, I'll try to find it and figure out how to post it.

Steve,
These are a huge hit. I usually have a good size group on my "show" displays. They'll bring people into the booth as well as large utility bowls.

[Jim Underwood]

Looks pretty cool.

I wonder, of course, why it's not a one piece top?

Can you not dip the top side, handle and all into the marbling pan?

[Bernie Weishapl]

Wow those colors are great. Good looking tops.

[Greg Haugen]

Jim,
That can be done. I've seen pictures of vases and bowls that were completely marbled. The marbling is incredibly thin and delicate. I do put a good durable finish on it to protect it. The "non-marbled" areas of the axis are also the areas that take the majority of the abuse; wear from gripping and twirling as well as the friction from the spinning. The two piece top also adds a bit of "contrast" to the overall appearance. Someone could turn a top out of cocobolo, for example. It would be nice looking, etc. A top could also be turned out of cocobolo with an axis of ebony, for example, and it would take on another appearance. It's just another variation to add different visual effects.