Dave Fifield wrote:
Is number 4 jarrah?
Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding.
![[:Y:]](./images/smilies/smiley20.gif "Thumbs Up")
Jarrah Burl. I picked it and the Black Palm up one day when I visited the Rockler right by my house. They are turning blanks. The Jarrah I actually ended up cutting at a 45 to get the 5.5"+ I need to bookmatch. It also allowed me to cut 90 deg to the voids lines. I stupidly tried filling them in with Zpoxy, but it quickly dawned on me that I should use sawdust from the dark sections. Oh well, its just a practice top. I then drilled a hole and cut it out. Simple enough. I really like the way this one looks with the black/maple/black/maple.
The Walnut is from a headstock blank and the Black Palm is from a 2x2 turning blank. I created a drawing in Autocad for a 12 segment (a somthingogon) ring and printed out several copies. I tape the paper template on some MDF with the Stew Mac Dremel router base pin installed in the center. Re-sawed the Black Palm, then used a 12” disc sander to shape each piece one at a time. Glue on each piece to the paper as I shape it. I made sure to alternate each piece front to back to have each piece sort of bookmatched to the adjacent pieces. This didn’t really matter with the Palm.
Once done let sit over night with something clamping it flat. It tends to swell and pop up. Once dry I sand flat then cut out the ring leaving the paper on the back for support. Route the top and place the ring in with the binding strips. Leave the paper side up. Then run it through the drum sander to final thickness. As long as you route the correct depth it will clean up after running through the sander. I did not route the correct depth on the Black Palm, so it didn’t clean up and I can see the binding strips shining through the back because it is so thin. Again not the end of the world, just a practice top.
I may have some photos of the processat home.