View Full Version : Lacewood & Wenge Tray - a la Mark Singer
Keith Starosta
03-05-2008, 8:58 AM
With apologies and thanks to Mark Singer, I tried to copy his design to create my own tray. I scaled this first piece back from those that Mark and others have done, just to make sure that I knew what I was doing. This example is 24" x 5.5", with the feet 6" wide.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2069/2312570788_d733fcf4af.jpg
I am realizing that my photography skills are not good, so these shots make the lacewood look much wavier than it actually is. That being said, I had a lot of fun making this piece. The tenon is also made from wenge...
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3256/2312570874_859716f466.jpg
I tried, but failed :o, to inlay a slice of maple into the tenon, but it didn't turn out very well.
I hand-traced the shape for the bracket feet on the pieces of wenge, cut them on the scroll saw, and finish-sanded them on the spindle sander.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3094/2311760445_f40715f65b.jpg
I have plans to make a few more of these, larger in scale, in the very near future. Thanks to Mark, and thanks for looking!!
- Keith
Stephen Edwards
03-05-2008, 9:32 AM
Beautiful Work! I'm curious as to the function of this piece. It's very nice even if it's just a piece of art!
Keith Starosta
03-05-2008, 9:34 AM
Thanks, Stephen!
That's just it...a "piece of art". My wife is going to use it to display some nice decorative candles on our mantel. She was very pleased with it.
- Keith
Danny Thompson
03-05-2008, 9:36 AM
Could you give us a shot of the end? I'm curious about the joinery . . . or is the tray carved from a solid piece of lacewood?
Keith Starosta
03-05-2008, 9:56 AM
This particular piece is "carved" from a single piece of lacewood. In the future, I'm going to use Mark's method of extruding the wood on the router table, using a bowl/tray bit. It will certainly be a cleaner way to do it, for sure. For this tray, I used my table saw and my dado stack. After removing most of the material, I took the lacewood to the router table and rounded the inside edge with the bowl/tray bit.
Here is a picture of the end of the tray. Again, my picture-taking skills seem to have skewed the way things actually look. The tray looks to be bowing, but really isn't...
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3212/2312570640_619c752654.jpg
Thanks!
- Keith
Stephen Edwards
03-05-2008, 9:58 AM
Hey Keith,
That's all the reason that we need to build things! My favorite pieces to build are things that I do just for the sake of doing it and 'cause I want to!
You can see what I mean by looking at a few photos of what I most like to do in an earlier thread:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?p=769990#post769990
I think that wood is way too underused as an art media. Everything doesn't have to have a pratical function! What's nice about your piece is that it does both: It's art and it's functional for your stated purpose.
Kind Regards,
gary Zimmel
03-05-2008, 11:05 AM
Keith
Beautiful tray and great workmanship.
Looking forward to seeing more.
Jim Becker
03-05-2008, 11:20 AM
Very nice, Keith!
Keith Starosta
03-05-2008, 11:26 AM
Thanks, guys!! :D
- Keith
Michael Gibbons
03-05-2008, 11:59 AM
" Learn by experience and Mistakes" That's my motto!:rolleyes:
Mike Cutler
03-05-2008, 2:43 PM
Thanks, Stephen!
That's just it...a "piece of art". My wife is going to use it to display some nice decorative candles on our mantel. She was very pleased with it.
- Keith
And that is all that really matters;)
Well done Keith
Danny Thompson
03-05-2008, 3:10 PM
Thanks for the explanation, Keith. Beautiful work!
Glenn Clabo
03-05-2008, 6:50 PM
Keith...It was worth the wait.;) (inside joke)
Keith Starosta
03-05-2008, 8:28 PM
Keith...It was worth the wait.;) (inside joke)
LOL!! Glad you like it, Glenn!! ;)
- Keith
Wayne Watling
03-05-2008, 8:49 PM
Great wood selection Keith, the colors are beautiful. I also attempted Marks tray and found the toughest part of the project was the feet, perhaps because I only had rasps to fashion the curves. I used the bowl bit exclusively to hollow out the tray, it might have taken a little longer but the results were worth it. I also spent quite a lot of time sanding through the grits before applying the tung oil.
Best,
Wayne
Keith Starosta
03-06-2008, 7:53 AM
Great wood selection Keith, the colors are beautiful. I also attempted Marks tray and found the toughest part of the project was the feet, perhaps because I only had rasps to fashion the curves. I used the bowl bit exclusively to hollow out the tray, it might have taken a little longer but the results were worth it. I also spent quite a lot of time sanding through the grits before applying the tung oil.
Best,
Wayne
I tend to agree with you on this, Wayne. I will do this with the next tray I make.
- Keith
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.5 Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions Inc. All rights reserved.