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View Full Version : 20" Fiddled Soft Maple Platter


Bob Bergstrom
12-20-2015, 9:21 AM
Some years ago a friend and arborist was paid $1500 to remove this fallen maple from a front yard. He used a chainsaw mill to saw 2"x23" slabs from it. He gave a couple to me. I finally turned this platter from a piece. It turned and sanded well. Rim is about 11/2" wide with two small beads. I used 75% alcohol and 25% Behlan's medium walnut dye to give it a wash coat of color and pop the grain. I then sanded it back with 400 and 600 sandpaper. Two coats of Formby's gloss ting oil, steel wooded back. And two coats of Mohawk gloss lacquer. I think I may have to see if the rest of that board is hiding some more surprises like this one.

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Bernie Weishapl
12-20-2015, 9:39 AM
Beautiful piece Bob. Lots going on in that piece.
John K Jordan
12-20-2015, 9:48 AM
What a great piece of wood! And I like the look of the raised bead inside the rim - I've done that on some of my platters, but just one bead.

I suspect you didn't turn that on your mini lathe.

JKJ
george wilson
12-20-2015, 9:52 AM
What is "Ting oil",and how do you "Steel wooded" something back?:):):)
Thom Sturgill
12-20-2015, 10:07 AM
As the son of a violin maker (I only ever made one) I would have to agree that that piece would have made a fine fiddle. It did make a fine platter.
daryl moses
12-20-2015, 11:31 AM
Pretty piece of wood, great job!
Jay Jolliffe
12-20-2015, 1:19 PM
Great job...The wood is amazing...
Tim Boger
12-20-2015, 3:52 PM
Outstanding job, beautiful wood.
David C. Roseman
12-20-2015, 4:27 PM
Bob, this is spectacular! 23" is a very large blank to work with, especially when it's that thin. How did you go about mounting it to turn the recess for the chuck? Also curious about the method you used to finish-turn the bottom. Vacuum chuck?
Bob Bergstrom
12-20-2015, 7:35 PM
Bob, this is spectacular! 23" is a very large blank to be work with, especially when it's that thin. How did you go about mounting it to turn the recess for the chuck? Also curious about the method you used to finish-turn the bottom. Vacuum chuck?
David,
It was very stable wood considering the width. Very little movement. Held on a 1/4" tenon and bottom and turned off using a 4" pvc pipe. Didn't need much of a tenon because it was soft maple and tool resistance was fairly low. My vacuum pump is a Gast with a JD adapter plugged into my Robust.
Doug Herzberg
12-21-2015, 12:19 AM
That's a very nice platter, Bob. I like the wood, too.