Burl Ive's got to plane

[Patrick Chase]

LN #4, if that doesn't work then Lagavulin 16 yr.

I might skip one of these steps.

Or reverse the order. It's sort of like shooting pool: You're more skilled after a few drinks (as far as you can tell).

[Patrick Chase]

Nice plane Stewie! Who built it?

TTC is how Stewie brands tools he made himself. Very nice toother, Stewie!

[Kevin Hampshire]

Prashun, I'm not a big fan of abrasives or wood dust but I've been known to use my 80 Grit gouge while turning on the lathe. Usually does the trick in a very predictable way.

Some times discretion is the better part of valor, sanding or whatever.

[Prashun Patel]

Mostly done. What a bucking bronco this piece has been.
I struggled about how to connect the two pieces. They are not perfectly symmetrical in size so I am inclined to leave them separate.

[Brian Holcombe]

Nicely done! Keep the split, looks good.

[Patrick McCarthy]

Very nicely done Prashun. What color are you going to paint it?

On a more serious note, and admitting that you and Brian have a much better aesthetic eye than I, I was wondering how a strip of ebony filling the gap would look . . . . Or perhaps a brass strip??? Again, just ideas; my taste is in my mouth, so feel free to reject Out-of-hand. Patrick

[Prashun Patel]

Thanks guys. I wondered the same thing, Patrick. In fact I thought about filling it with a 1/8 strip of plexiglass. I like the brass and evony ideas too. I will live with this for a while and perhaps do that later.

[Brian Holcombe]

Bridging the gap with butterfly joints does look nice to my eye.

The gap serves a functional purpose so I would leave it be, ahead of any other sort if detail.

[Prashun Patel]

Brian, i thought of that too. I was contemplating putting one near each end (in the 'forehead' and 'mouth' of the face). What's your vote? I have two large iron butterfiles that I was thinking to make use of.

[Jim Koepke]

I have two large iron butterfiles that I was thinking to make use of.

Is that another bit of jocularity?

Could it be you are too young to remember Iron Butterfly?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIVe-rZBcm4

jtk

[Brian Holcombe]

Brian, i thought of that too. I was contemplating putting one near each end (in the 'forehead' and 'mouth' of the face). What's your vote? I have two large iron butterfiles that I was thinking to make use of.

Two seems odd to me, I would like to see five of them.

I would save those two to stitch a crack.

[Prashun Patel]

Jim, dontcha know that I love you? Thanks for the suggestion Brian. I will play with that.

[Glenn de Souza]

Very nice! I like the sweeping curve in the apron and the angle at which it meets the legs. You obviously took a lot of care.

Some people might say the showstopper burl top pretty much obscures the structure below it in a low table like this, but I like to think the burl invites you in to explore the piece and discover the other details. When you take the care you did, you're not letting that intrepid explorer down. I'd like to hear where you end up on joining the two hemispheres. Whether you go with butterfly keys, brass, ebony, it will surely look stunning.

[Prashun Patel]

Thanks, Glen!

I am flattered you noticed the base. I feel exactly as you do. A guy can wear a nice suit and tie, but it's the shoes that impress me the most

The base is white oak from my back yard. I dyed it brown and black and top coated it with a waterbased poly.

I turned the bottom 2/3 of the tapered legs on the lathe. I used a rasp and block plane to create faceted faces, and to complete the transition to the stretcher joint after glue up. The stretchers are half-lapped. The joint was too large to use a coping saw, so I cut the shoulders with a tenon saw, and then chopped out the waste with a mortise chisel. I was surprised how fast that went. Chopping with the grain is so easy; and this white oak seemed to split very easily.

I decided to go with a 1/8" gap, with rounded over edges. I put a couple floating tenons in the joint to keep the two halves aligned.

[Brian Holcombe]

Very nice! Beautifully done!