Ambrosia Maple Platter

[BILL DONAHUE]

This ambrosia maple platter is 11 5/8th's, finished with gloss poly because it will be a functional piece. Don't like to use gloss but it looked better than with the satin. Wanted to texture the rim as an experiment and tried several things. First, got a dremel with a cone shaped bit and just ruffed it up while operating the lathe at a slow speed. Didn't look bad. Then sanded that mostly off and tried to pierce it, a la Wally Dickerman. That didn't work at all - probably too thick and the dremel's probably not the right tool. So I then used one of the bits to carve grooves along the rim. Tried one other thing using a woodburner. The ambrosia markings on the top and bottom were darker than the middle so I used the woodburner to outline those in the middle to give it more balance. The use of the woodburner was very subtle and I showed it to some woodturners who didn't notice it. (Would you have noticed it, if I didn't mention it?) BTW - I got a photo tent from Harbor Freight and don't have a light for it so I used it outside in the sun. Sorry for the poor pics.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Bill - that is a very impressive platter! Beautiful wood and form but my eyes are drawn to your texturing around the rim - really nice job on that! Seriously - very nice work on this piece! Looking forward to seeing your next turning!

[Norm Zax]

Came out quite impressive indeed!
[Yep, Im back from a week long vacation]

[Bernie Weishapl]

Bill that is a beauty. Really like the rim treatment and the wood is beautiful.

[Terry Achey]

Very nice platter, Bill. So nice that I'd use it for finger food only:D.

Can you or another viewer explain the difference between Ambrosia Maple and Spalted Maple? To me they look the same.

Terry

[Scott Conners]

Spalted is a general term for wood that has been allowed to partially rot. The fungus adds color and patterns.
Ambrosia maple is maple that has been attacked by the ambrosia beetle. The beetle uses a fungal symbiont to help it feed on the wood, so in effect, it is spalted, but it takes on a very characteristic pattern when it's caused by the beetle.