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At the homeowner's specific request, I agreed to do a woodworking project made of hard maple: A ruler rack used for holding and organizing various sized quilting rulers and cutting mats. Part of my responsibility included picking out the wood at Owl Lumber. I love looking at the wood there!
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The uprights were resawn from a single apparently clear piece of wood, but a treasure revealed itself as I pulled some of the pieces through the bandsaw....
A mineral streak from an old knothole ran almost the length of the pieces. I then had a tough decision to make: Do I put it in the front row where it would be more likely seen but "broken up" by the slots, or do I put it in the back row where its beauty would remain uninterrupted? I went with the back - look at that figure!
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The customer, who has Bachelor's degree in Forestry (with honors!) and who also appreciates the natural character found in wood grain, opted to apply the topcoat, tung oil.
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The top and bottom were not resawn, but they were cut from the same piece, which had its own special kind of figure: Bird's eye!
The top piece had a lighter mineral stain in addition to the bird's eye...and what a nice finish!
Here's the rack in use.