Notes and Details on Making the A-frame Platter

This platter represents an exploration that I have not attemped before.  Here I have concentrated the edges of several planks to produce a platter from a perspective that is not natural.  On the one hand this platter represents my on going exploration of mixing wood and clear epoxy and on the other a testing of what the epoxy will allow me to do.

Let me explain how I got to the point where the video picks up the story:

When I had the pieces from the A-frame sawn at the mill, I had them cut at 1 1/2" thick.  This is the regular depth that I use.  When I got the wood back to the studio, I ripped 3" off of the edges of several of the planks.

I wasn't sure exactly what I was going to do but I was sure that this would give me enough depth to make a shallow bowl or a platter.  I took the edge pieces and cut them into 18" lengths.  I separated the highly textured pieces from those with less character.

I made two molds, each about 18" square, lined them with plastic and set the pieces in them, on edge, with the textured side up.  I put all of the highly textured pieces in one mold and the less textured pieces in the second mold.  I then started adding pours of epoxy over a period of several weeks.

These videos offer some insights to the thought process I went through to produce the blank.  The third video - the path not taken - is the thinking behind one idea which I decided not to use.

The image below is the resulting blank from this process.  For further videos on turning wood and epoxy blanks please visit this page.

Return to the A-frame story