Look, it's my Haiti Plate-ee!

[Steve Vaughan]

Well, it's been forever since I've been around. Had a little flatwork to do, then lots of busy summer stuff for church. One of those busy things was a mission trip to Haiti.

I was fortunate that the director of the place we stayed - Bethel Guest House - had cut down a tree some years ago and had put it down in a dry storage area, and he let me have some to bring back. And bring it back I did, to the tune of about 55 pounds worth, put in my two checked bags. (Lady at the airline counter checking my bags, on the trip home - "Sir, what's this?" Me - "It's wood I found." Lady - "Souvenirs?" Me - "Yes ma'am.")

So, anyway, here is my Haiti Plate-ee. I made it to commemorate an incredible experience in Haiti and the place we stayed. The "BGM" are the initials of the sponsoring group. Ain't even signed it yet on back...that'll come quickly.

The wood is unknown and some of you might have a clue. Not too hard of a wood, cuts and sands easily. It's 12" in diameter and 1 1/4" high. The finish is Watco Natural and about 6 coats of Deft Semi-Gloss, sanded and steel-wooled between coats with a final steel wool buffing and waxing/polishing.

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[Roger Chandler]

WoW! That is a gorgeous platter there Steve! Nice to have you posting again! I cannot help with the wood species.....just glad you got it through customs!

Way to go on the missions trip! Haiti is sure a country in need help, with all the earthquake damage......our church org. does a lot of relief work there as well. That will be a lifetime keepsake!

[charlie knighton]

you did double good

[Tim Thiebaut]

Very nice! And good for you for going down there to help out!

[Todd Willhoit]

Very nice Steve. What tools did you use for carving the letters? I've been hacking around with some carving, but am eager to learn how the more experienced folks do it.

[Steve Vaughan]

Thanks everyone. Todd, I printed off my words on the computer. The font I used is called "Capitals" (I'm using a Mac, and this was a font that came on the system). I can't recall the font size, but I was shooting for a size that was right at 1" tall for the capital (first) letters. Then I cut the letters out individually, sprayed adhesive on the platter and put my letters down in place. When I printed them off, I had it all underlined, so when I cut them out and put them in place, I could use the underline to help keep them even next to each other. Then, just carve 'em out.

For carving, I mostly used the basic chip carving knife with a thin tip and a small v-tool. It helped on most of the letters to use the v-tool first, down the middle of the letter, cutting several times to get closer (not so much deeper, though) to the edge of the letter. Then, use the carving knife to make my final cuts to the edge and to cut the serifs (I think that's what the tip that goes out from each letter is called). I also used a small, shallow palm-handled gouge to match some of the curved letters to get a cleaner cut. Take your time, you'll do just fine. The wood you used with make a difference too, and this was fairly easy to carve although the crazy grain is something to watch for too. Hope that helps.