Nice touch.
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Nice touch.
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Bingo John!Originally Posted by John Keeton
maybee the addition of a gold border 'stripe' as mentioned just to guild the lilly so to say.
GREAT platter! The recipients will be pleased regardless.
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John;
This is a nice piece and will be very much appreciated.
I have done several of these types of pieces as presentation awards for horse events and the such. Each piece stands on it's own when it comes to the engraving depending upon how deep of a burn (number of passes and intensity) you have and the type of wood and the grain of wood. One of the things you need to think about is how the piece is going to be used or displayed. Your plate appears to be one that will probably be hung on the wall or set on a plate stand. It appears to me that from across the room the engraving will almost fade into the grain of the piece and will not really pop. Which if pop is what you are going for - opps. :-)
My own personal opinion is that you should do something. If not the message is not going to pop. I don't think I would use gold, simply because of the lack of contrast with the wood , I would probably go for black. My engraver uses is printers ink, she rubs it in and then cleans off the excess. I have never done this myself but the end results work for her, and the pieces turn out well. Just as a note: I always give here completely finished pieces so I assume that is why the printers ink on penetrates the engraved portion.
Again, nice piece.
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John, that's a really neat looking platter! I think it would be beautiful either way - leave as is, or color/leaf. I was wondering though, if you gold leaf it, seems like you'd be more successful if the bottom is smooth...looks like the etching might be a little rough, so I'd wondered how the leafing would actually come out. But I like the idea too of painting the 50, or even all the letters, black. Only concern I'd have with that is the bleeding into the shallow end grain on each number/letter. If you do that, you might be sure to seal the whole thing pretty good with shellac or similar. Beautiful work there!
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John, if it helps you, here is a pic of a piece of cherry laser engraved a year ago. The wood was treated with Sam Maloof's oil/poly mix. The engraving darkened enough to show good contrast since the roughness of the engraving absorbs a lot of the finish. These letters are only 1/4" high.
cheers, dee
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I would vote for using black on the lettering and maybe a little color on the band going around the edge and leaving the center "50" as it is.
A local craftsman has been making me various chests, one of the features on them is a "saying for posterity" in spectacular lettering inside the lid. They are made from different wood species so the final color is always a little different. The lettering he choses is always monochromatic -- some are black with a little red others with a little green - even blue. I try to involve myself as little as possible when I commission a piece. When I go to his shop and seeother chests or a picture of those with specified details -- they almost always have too much embellishment - gold gets busy fast unless everything is gold. Simple speaks - complex yells. He will not color his raised monograms - even if you wanted him to ........sort of like your "50"
Last edited by Tom Godley; 10-27-2010 at 1:55 PM.
[OP]
Contributor
Some great comments, and Dee, thanks for the pic. I have a couple of coats of WOP on this already, including the lettering. While the finish didn't seem to enhance the lettering any, I don't think bleeding would be an issue with added color.
Black, with a little brown and red in it might be less stark, and still accomplish the idea. May try some of that. If I use acrylic paint, I can still put something else over it.
I will follow with pics when I get it done. Thanks to all!!
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John I think it looks great as is. Can't wait to see it finished.
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First of all, beautiful platter, but I suppose that is like telling Magic he's tall...
Anyway, IF you gold leaf anything, I think the 50 would be it. Any more would distract from the piece.
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John I would also leave it alone. You did a beautiful job on the platter.
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I thought this was all done already, hadn't really paid enough attention to it, being away and just giving short glances to the forums I post to,
But see it isn't yet, so John my thought on this is something like this, if you like/want to make it look like one of those commercial plaques you can buy and are given out for whatever reasons people and business can think about, (LOML had a couple dozen of those, (not quite as nice ;-)0) guess where they ended up) then absolutely make it gold colored numbers & lettering.
For an artistic piece that is given by close relatives and friends, it already looks almost too much like those pieces I was referring to, but still I do think a slightly darkening of the lettering/numbers would enhance the piece, good luck for you deciding on what to do, I'm sure the couple, knowing who made it does make a difference and it will be warmly accepted, doesn't matter what it looks like, it is the thought that counts, I'm sure you are aware of that
Have fun and take care
[OP]
Contributor
Leo, timely post!! I just finished filling the lettering. I appreciate all of the great suggestions - and, the compliments on the platter. After all was said and done, you all convinced me not to do the gold.
Ended up using some acrylic craft paint - Chocolate Cherry was the name. I felt that the really dark brown, with just a slight reddish tint, really worked well on the cherry.
Rubbed it in to the lettering, and wiped off the excess. I will apply one more coat of WOP and buff before the big party!
Thanks, again!!
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Wow! Classy - in every sense of the word!
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John, I like it !!
Have fun and take care
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Very nice John! Has a very warm feel to it. Very appropriate gift from a woodworker/turner to a friend.
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