finished piece

Well it didn't completely come out as planned but a very nice set anyway. The largest piece of the set warped differently from the rest since it had more fine burl eyes. The next largest piece wouldn't fit into it without taking a risk of breaking it so I will let the largest piece 20" x 12" stand alone as a separate piece. The piece averages 1.5 millimeters wall thickness. This was quite a challenge. Can't wait to do another!!!

Pucker up day

Have you ever had the feeling that a piece of wood was to good to be tampered with? That's the way I feel about this piece.
I have had this veneer quality "turtle back" Madrone burl in plastic for the last few months. This is a 20"x 10", 150lbs. of defect free perfection. I was going to rough it out and make a salad bowl from it but I felt the risk of cracking would be too great. I have decided to make a very thin (2 or 3 millimeter) nested set. Here's the process...
I have high pressure washed the bark clean off. I like the bark but at the thinness of the finished piece it will easily chip off. Removing the bark plus dying the top surface will give me the bark look and hopefully a nice contrast. Here is how it looks this morning. Stayed tuned to see the finished product. I should finish it late today.