A couple of plates

[Thom Sturgill]

Our club was asked to provide trophies for the Envirothon, a youth event put on by the USDA, if I remember correctly. We were to make mushrooms and plates. I agreed to turn a plate (my first) and did a second for my wife with some embellishment. The prize plate had to be flat so that a brass placque can be mounted on it. These are Cherry, the first is finshed with lacquer and the second is Waterlox and beeswax. They are approximately 9 1/2" wide.

[dan carter]

Both are beauties, very nice flat surface. I am sure they will like them; imagine next year they will remember you.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Very nice work on both of these Thom! Real impressed with how flat you managed to get your plate! That's quite the embellishment on the second plate! Pretty cool!

[John Keeton]

Thom, some very nice work on these! Like the rim treatment on the one with the scene on it, too. Good work with the pyro - or that is what it appears to be.

[Roger Chandler]

Thom,
Good looking stuff. One can tell by looking at these, that a true artisan created them..........nicely done!

[Duff Bement]

Absolutely beautiful!!! Any pointers on how you them so flat? The one I tried turned out ok but not that good.

[Thom Sturgill]

Any pointers on how you them so flat?
I use a shear scraping cut with a Jimmy Clewes' style gouge. Use a small ruler (shown) to check flatness as you go, and take very light cuts. Then sand, sand, sand with a block! Mark the platter with a pencil starting in the center and spiraling out. Sand and check that the pencil marks sand out evenly, concentrating on the areas that sanded out first, and repeating until a light pass sands evenly from center to edge.

Hope that helps.

[Michael James]

Nice job on both! You and your wife make a good team. I love dragons and all the fantasy stuff! I have a chunk of redwood that will make a nice plate - I think I'm inspired to go for it now! Thanks for posting!
mj

[charlie knighton]

very nice, Thom

[Bernie Weishapl]

Those are beauties Thom. Is that pyro done on the second one? What system do you use?

[Thom Sturgill]

Bernie and John , I have an Optima system with three fixed point pens. The outside was done with a 1/16" ball tip and I used a rounded skew and spear point shader for the design. I used the same ball point for the background on my 'celtic knot' bowl. I am a little worried that as the Cherry ages and darkens, that the pyro work will become less distinct.

[David E Keller]

Nicely done on both. The pyro work on the second is nicely done, and the finish on both looks really good. Thanks for the tip on the pencil swirl before sanding... I'll have to put that to use when I get around to making a plate.

[Scott Crumpton]

I really like the dragon plate. Dragons and other fantasy creatures are one of my interests. Most of my scroll saw work is dragons. What I find most interesting about the plate is the way you used the grain to give a 3D effect. It makes it more "alive".