First Platter

[Tom Winship]

A lady gave me a piece of oak yesterday that had been a table decoration at her daughters recent wedding and was curious what I could do with it so they could give to the daughter.
So I turned the platter today. All end grain and lots of CA in the cracks. Think it turned out okay. Hopefully, they will have it laser engravied to commemorate the wedding.
Sanded to 600 and buffed with Beeswax. Platter is slightly over 11" (Largest thing I have done to date) and 1 1/2" high.
C&C invited.

[Roger Chandler]

I hope that oak was good and dry as the pith in it is likely to crack big time ........unless that piece has already done most of its movement. Nice work Tom! I hope your new lathe treats you well when you get it!

[Nate Davey]

I'm not a huge fan of oak, but this is great. Very nicely done.

[Jim Burr]

Wow Tom!! This one has all sorts of movement and character! Ya done good!

[John Keeton]

Very nice!!!! I bet that was not an "easy turn!" Turning oak is rough enough, but end grain has to be 10X as bad. Great work, and I do hope it stays together for you. Oak is very prone to cracking and with it being end grain, the odds go up quite a bit.

[David DeCristoforo]

Repeat after me:

It will not crack...
It will not crack...
It will not crack...
It will not crack...
It will not crack...
It will not crack...

Now that we have settled that, I think this is an amazing "first" effort. It's a fine looking platter and the figure in the wood really brings it to life.

[David E Keller]

Looks great to me! As you know, this isn't the strongest grain orientation for a platter, so it might be best to ensure that it's only used for display purposes. If someone showed me a piece of oak like that and asked what I could make from it... My response would be, "Nothing!"... You're a better man than I am!

[Dan Forman]

That looks great, was it dry when you started?

Dan

[Jamie Donaldson]

OOohhh boy, dry oak turned end grain,......what FUN!!!! Good luck with the possible checking. What kind of wedding table decoration could it have been????

[Baxter Smith]

Great work on the platter! If it was not completely dry to begin with, it might be a good idea to put it in a paperbag in the coolest place possible and leave it alone for as long as possible and add more CA as necessary. No point in rushing it to dry. Hope it makes it. It will be a wonderful keepsake.

[Pete Jordan]

That would have worn me out.

[Steve Vaughan]

Yup, that's a beautiful platter right there! Wonderful grain pattern and colors!

[Don Alexander]

i see i'm not the only one turning oak hehe

nicely done Tom

[Scott Hackler]

Nice Tom. I am sure it will be loved.

[Kathy Marshall]

It looks great Tom, really nice job! Hope it stays together for you!

[Michelle Rich]

rustic & interesting..good first!

[Steve Schlumpf]

Wow! What a beauty!! Very nice work Tom! The bride is going to love it!!

[Tom Winship]

Thanks all. I knew it was risky when I started, but John Keeton's 50 year anniversary platter post he had on here came to mind.
Don't know what the table decoration was, but now I'm kind of happy they are not going to engrave it. If you engrave it and it shatters, very bad karma.
Want to make one for my brother from mesquite (grain orientation the correct way). Their 50th anniversary slipped by last year without us remembering it. So will make a late commemoration.

[Robert Henrickson]

Beautiful. Oak can provide some really beautiful grain, like this one. It can be well worth turning, as your platter demonstrates.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Beautiful piece Tom.

[Tom Winship]

Well, it was "Queen for a Day".

It did crack.
It did crack.
It did crack bad.
It did crack bad.

When it is through doing its' thing, I will send wreckage pictures.