-
Home » WR Member Galleries » -
Spalted Maple Platter
I got this piece of spalted Maple from another wood turner who has had to
give up his country place and move into an apartment. I looked at it, sitting in my shop, for about three months, before tackling it. The problem was that if I made a round platter out of it, I would lose most of the beautiful spalting. Also, it was slightly less that 3/4" thick, so therewas not a lot to play with. I finally decided to make a very shallow bowl]/platter. The wings are cut down only enough to give me the wood to make the ring. Inside the
ring, there is a very shallow bowl (about 3/8") just enough to keep fruit rolling to the center. the bowl/platter is quite big ( 16" x 18") and when it tried it on our dining room table, it was a little overwhelming. I moved it to the coffee table. But there, it
begged for something to be put in it. I made the spheres, one from Box Elder, one from Black Walnut, and the final one from Cocobolo. The smaller ones are about the size of a tennis ball. The results were quite startling.
The spheres transformed it from an overly large platter to an interactive piece of art. People who see it can't resist exploring and picking up the
spheres. The edge of the board is natural on one side and undercut with a router on the other sides so it will be
easy to pick up. It can be flipped over and used as a serving board for cheese or pate. I did not want to darken the Maple, so I finished it with
several coats of satin water-based Varathane.
-
