McCanon

Chokecherry -- an eye popping species. In our locale, a huge trunk would be 3-4 inches in diameter. Most of the standing dead pieces curve with deep splits and have a diameter of 1-2 inches. Finding some lengths to work with, lean towards the lathe. I've turned letter openers, tree ornaments, hour glass spindles, etc. The wood color is blond to white with veining tan to nearly black. When people see something of Chokecherry, their first comment is "WOW' that's chokecherry?" I use only the standing dead. Give it try, you'll be surprised.

Nice....nice....nice! I'm glad you included the mahogany racing stripes. I've made 7 tables and I've used this technique on all of them. Mostly for decoration but on a cherry wood dining table the bread board ends were end grain covers. 4 other tables have these strips of wood on the tops' edge and also in the center of the top. I did up two bedside tables with drawers. A walnut and zebra wood mix. The top was edged in walnut and to fill the zebra wood grain I applied a mix of linseed oil and turpentine....rubbed it on....let is set a few mins....then hit it with the orbital sander...while still wet. A great grain fill happened and the slight amount of walnut sanding dust darkened the zebra a tad. A high gloss finish really did it. Post your next work.

Bill, this fabulous. What a great idea. Gothic for sure. Hope this isn't your last piece with this technique. Post another when it happens. Did you weight it? I'm going to guess 42 lbs give or take a couple.

My wood shop summer hours are abbreviated to 15-20 a week. After my 8-4 daily, I'll put in a couple three hours each evening during the winter months plus 20-25 hours on the week ends. Those same hours are yarding times during the growing season here in the northern Rockies. Spare hours in the summer are devoted to fishing, wood gathering, gold prospecting, gardening, and spending quality time around the BBQ'er.

Very Very nice Ryan. Ratios' look good. Hope to see your next project either for hire or personal.

WOW! Good choice on contrasting woods. What a find of Myrtle in that size. You've really set the bar high for the next 15. I do hope you're getting a photograph of each creation with the recipient and yourself. Then when the next 15 years roll by, get a group photo with all the chests and grand.ters'. This is news material and a great achievement.