The Award for the Best Supporting Craft Material goes to Wood

  My wife is a talented and creative person in the kitchen and glass studio.  Most recently Eva completed a glass sculpture of a cedar ( cedrus) tree.

  As the tree neared completion the question of where and how to mount it came forward.  I had in a back cupboard a piece of walnut that caught my eye in a cut off bin at a wood show, at least five years ago.  Some shops have no extra wood laying about without purpose, my shop has too much wood laying about with no assigned purpose, but sometimes a random piece of wood is just what the doctor ordered.

  To make the sculpture stand on its own I had to set the four glass sections into slots in the wood.  I began by tracing the glass base, each piece was a different length and width. I drilled out sections of the slots and then cut the rest of the slot with a coping saw.  Once the slots were cut I cleaned them up with needle files, rasps and a 1/4 inch chisel.  A coping saw is a good little tool to have in your shop for a job like this.  After the wood work was done I sanded the board to 600 grit and gave it two coats of spray vanish and a coat of wax. 

  A unique piece of glass sculpture reserves an unique base to finish it off.

  

note: measurements in centimetres. 

   The other knock off I am doing while hanging out with our grandchildren this weekend is a puzzle.  There bird cut outs are wood burned and will get a frame  17.5 by 19.5 cm. It is a surprising  challenge to fit all the pieces back into the frame.  My grandson likes to do puzzles. 

  It is great when a wood shop can provide support and entertainment for other people as well as pleasure for me.

cheers, ianw