Mike Henderson
02-20-2015, 1:25 PM
Some time ago, I ordered some myrtle burl veneer from a supplier. When I received it, the shipper had crushed the box and some of the veneer was damaged. Enough of the veneer was undamaged that it was still usable so the supplier and I did a settlement to reflect the damage. I put the veneer aside and it just sat there for a long while. Recently, I was reviewing my veneer and found the myrtle veneer again. I had put the broken pieces in the package. While looking at the broken pieces, I began to wonder if I could do anything with it. This tray is what came from that musing. Sorry, not a great picture - it's very hard to take a picture of a shiny surface.
307385
The veneer is myrtle, topped (or bottomed, depending on how you like to look at it) with a banding of cross cut Macassar ebony with black and white stringing. The background is dyed black veneer. The myrtle veneer was let into the black, which was a real challenge.
The sides are teak. And to add some interest, I did a banding inside and outside of cross cut tulipwood bordered by white and black stringing. This is the first time I used teak for sides and I was very pleasantly surprised by how it finished. It's a very rich color. We often see teak used outdoors where it's weathered to gray so we tend to think of it as a boring wood. But it's anything but.
307386
The other tray is made from some waste walnut burl veneer left over from a radial match. I trimmed it almost rectangular and laid it in a bookmatch. The matches produced what looks like the faces of a dog. Since there are three of those matches in the middle, I call this the "Three Dog Tray." People have seen other dogs in the tray, above the three main images. The banding is fiddle back maple cut long grain with black stringing on either side of the maple. The border is rosewood - some more left over veneer.
307387
To add some interest, I ran the veneer up on the sides.
307388
I was pleased with the way they came out. In person, they look pretty good - probably better than my poor photography.
Mike
307385
The veneer is myrtle, topped (or bottomed, depending on how you like to look at it) with a banding of cross cut Macassar ebony with black and white stringing. The background is dyed black veneer. The myrtle veneer was let into the black, which was a real challenge.
The sides are teak. And to add some interest, I did a banding inside and outside of cross cut tulipwood bordered by white and black stringing. This is the first time I used teak for sides and I was very pleasantly surprised by how it finished. It's a very rich color. We often see teak used outdoors where it's weathered to gray so we tend to think of it as a boring wood. But it's anything but.
307386
The other tray is made from some waste walnut burl veneer left over from a radial match. I trimmed it almost rectangular and laid it in a bookmatch. The matches produced what looks like the faces of a dog. Since there are three of those matches in the middle, I call this the "Three Dog Tray." People have seen other dogs in the tray, above the three main images. The banding is fiddle back maple cut long grain with black stringing on either side of the maple. The border is rosewood - some more left over veneer.
307387
To add some interest, I ran the veneer up on the sides.
307388
I was pleased with the way they came out. In person, they look pretty good - probably better than my poor photography.
Mike