Elm crotch plate

[Kathy Marshall]

This is the 2nd crotch plate that I twice turned from a chinese elm crotch. I finished up the 1st one a week or 2 ago, and left this bigger one to dry just a little bit longer. They were both roughed turned to about 3/4" (a little thicker at the center), then left in the DNA bucket for a week. Then I put them in a giant ziplock back opened slightly, and almost every day I opened the bag and used my compressor to blow out the moist air and allow some dry air inside. The 1st one was finished turned after about 2 weeks and just has some very slight warping.
This blank had 2 more weeks of drying and was pretty dry. It had moved enough that I had just enough thickness to true it up and not much more. I'm pretty happy with the simple design. It's 10 1/2" x 1 1/4" and is just sanded to 800, no finish yet. I have another nephew getting married in July, and I think this might go as part of their wedding gift. I'm considering trying my hand at burning in a design along with names and date, but I'm also thinking about having it laser engraved. At least with laser engraving I can be confident of the results, not so much with me doing the burning.
If I go with laser engraving, do I send it out before any finish is added?

This is the 1st, smaller one.
231292
231293231294231295231296
Thanks for looking!
Comments and critiques are welcome.

[Hayes Rutherford]

Kathy, I vote for burning in your own design. You can be sensitive to the grain patterns and work around it, although, elm can be difficult to burn because of the alternating hard and soft areas. Nicely done platter and should be a good palate for what ever you decide.

[Michelle Rich]

very pretty platter..I'd chicken out & do it myself on the back..you have such a nice large flat bottom, that I'd find a place on it that could hold the date of the marriage & whatever else one would want to write.

[Roger Chandler]

Nice plates! A laser setup could put names and date around the rim section which would be a nice touch............of course you could do that as well............much harder for you to get a crisp lettering for such a gift unless you are really talented in pyro or carving............

If this one had to rely on my skill in those areas.........well lets just say laser engraving, here I come!

[John Keeton]

Those turned out nice, Kathy! Great color and figure. Laser engraving these would be problematic, as the rim is not flat. The laser machine burns on a flat plane, and I am afraid on the rim of these you would get a deep burn on the outer border of the engraving and perhaps little or no burn on the inner border. If you have room on the bottom, then laser engraving would probably work if desired.

[Roger Chandler]

good info, John............I just learned something about laser engraving from your post.........seems to me I heard Keith Outten mention to someone about engraving on a round pen surface...........is this a different type machine or a more expensive model that has different capabilities?

[John Keeton]

I have never had a pen engraved, but I would think there are a couple of ways of doing that. The obvious would be the rotary attachment that is available for lasers and used for all kinds of round objects - glassware, etc. The other is that the engraved surface on a pen could be fairly small and the slight difference in height presented by the radius might not create a visible difference in the engraved depth.

[Jason Ritchie]

Beautiful work Kathy! I love the shape on these and that wood is very beautiful. I like how you signed your name on the bottom and think that looks very neat to me. Why not do your inscription that way?

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

Kathy,
Consider this: If you do anything to the face of the plate it will become a one use decoration, just something to look at and commemorate the date and their terrific Aunt. What's more, if you do the work yourself and the burning is not what you expect, you will hate the plate. However, if you burn on the back, no artwork will be expected, the message is there and the plate can be seen for the beauty of the wood. Just my humble thoughts.
faust

[Ted Evans]

Very pretty Kathy, both the wood and workmanship.

[Brian Brown]

you have such a nice large flat bottom

Oh my!, a bit personal. :eek: I'm sorry, I just couldn't help myself. I am so embarrassed. :o:o:o I'll be going now. By the way Kathy, very nice platter, Beautiful Crot.... Auggg!! I'm outta here!

[Scott Lux]

+1 for info on the bottom. That beautiful simple form is too nice as it is.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Beautiful Kathy. I agree with info on the bottom.

[Jeff Myroup]

I would opt for burning. The hard part is not the pyro itself, but laying out the design. I have yet to find a computer program that will allow you to set up wording in a true circle. It is normally on an arc, and the letters are distorted. In the future if you intend to burn, I recommend leaving the tenon on the back, so that you can re-chuck and remove the pyro if you don't like it. It also helps the layout if you put some index marks around the rim. Burnishing the plate helps with the density differences between the grain too.

[David DeCristoforo]

I'm going to pass on offering suggestions on decorating. But this is a fantastic platter "as is" The elm feather is beautiful and the "understated" design really lets it shine. Being of the "less is more" school of thought, I think that any embellishment is only going to detract from this.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Beautiful platter! Love the feather! I agree with those suggesting to only burn on the back. It commemorates the wedding and preserves the natural beauty of the wood!

Very nice work!

[Rick Markham]

I think it's spectacular as is, I agree with less is more. The figure is really stunning, I really like this design you have been doing, that raised inner lip is a nice touch.

[Kathy Marshall]

Thanks for the comments everyone! Some good suggestions and I think I will go with something on the bottom and leave the face alone. I'll leave the face burning for a plain piece that would benefit more with some pyro.

[Scott Hackler]

Great platter Kathy! I love it and will also vote for burning the bottom, not the top.