A simple project

[jonathan snyder]

Hi folks,

I thought I would share this. On a recent trip home I found an old weather vane in Grandpa's shop. Grandpa said it came off the barn at the farm where he grew up. Come to find out, It originally belonged to my Great Great Grandpa Elias. It was quite rusty, but a 3 day soak in a citric acid bath and a wire brush cleaned it up pretty nicely. Now I figured Great Great Grandpa Elias would not have had too many tailed tools, so I did as much hand work as I could. I flattened that piece of walnut by hand twice! It bowed on me after I flattened it the first time. I used my Stanley #71 to inlay the curly maple, a #18 & a #65 to cut the chamfers on the walnut, and a 4 1/2 to smooth it. My carving skills are non existent, so I had a fellow laser engrave the text for me. I color filled the text with dark garnet shellac, and used blond shellac to finish everything. The risers are paduk, as I thought it matched the glass nicely.

I sent pictures to Dad, who showed them to Grandpa. Dad said he had a big smile, as he is a woodworker too.

Thanks for looking.

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[Clint Jones]

Great work Jonathan. The curly maple inlay was a nice touch. It will be something you will be able to pass down for many generations. -Clint

[Jim Becker]

That's really, really nice, Jonathan! A great way to preserve an historic memento.

[Alex Carrera]

remarkable work. The laser engraving and the way you've set it off is great.