I bought a plank of Oak

[cutting42]

A bit wet, needs drying out but it will be a font cover.

 

[Droogs]

should get a good looking bit of wood with purrddyyy grain when it dries out enough to be of use

 

[AndyT]

That's an unusual project!
I'd be interested to see some pictures when you get started on it.

 

[custard]

Is your board wide enough to get the font cover out of it without jointing two sections together?

Jointing highly figured boards can be tricky, the joint line can become pretty glaring and the eye focuses just on the joint rather than the piece as a whole. One way around that is to let in 6mm wide "pinstripes" between the joints. It works well with Oak if made from a player timber like Sycamore or Sweet Chestnut.

 

[Racers]

Wow! That’s very nice.

You will need a lot of epoxy and coffeee to fill the pips.

Pete

 

[AndyT]

Btw, when you say font cover, I really hope you mean something like this - do say if you need more wood!

 

[cutting42]

Jointing will be required as it is not wide enough in one piece and you are correct, it will be a challenge, thanks for the suggestions custard. The font and church are very old and very simple and this cover will be replacing an existing cover that looks a little like what Andy posted.

It is around 2 inch thick and 9'6" long and has been seasoned for around 7 years but has surface dampness so once I have finished a design and roughly cut to size it will need some more drying out in my workshop. Fortunately as its destination is a church it will not be in a centrally heated place so mega drying not required.

Whole plank:

 

[cutting42]

I thought I would follow up with the finished project as a series of pictures. It was for my parents church and sadly my mother died before it was completed but she knew the design and the wood that was to be used and I put a little plaque underneath it dedicating it to her memory as well.

 

[Bm101]

That looks amazing. Well done. Should be there and in use for many years!

 

[AndyT]

I really like the contrast between the plain, straight grain and the wild quarters. Beautiful work.

 

[woodbloke66]

Nice work, burr oak is stunning material. I bought a completely green, thick (50mm) slab of the stuff last year (about 2mx400mm) and it was so heavy it was as much as I could do to lift it. It's currently air drying at the bottom of the garden under a big tarp but I have a mind to do one of those Alan Peters coffee table things with a gouge carved bowl once it's dry enough. Unfortunately it's developed one or two shakes and splits so I guess there'll be some fancy 'butterflies' to hold the whole thing together...at the moment it's too wet although it appears to be drying quite well - Rob

 

[cutting42]

Thanks chaps

The church has been given a major refit inside so the hand over was able to coincide with the Bishop coming down to re open and bless the changes and to my amazement they got him to bless the new font cover as well so my first blessed piece of work!

 

[MusicMan]

A nice design, well executed. Looks terrific.

 

[Racers]

Wow! just wow.

Pete

 

[El Barto]

Excellent work.

 

[AJB Temple]

Lovely piece of work. Top job.

 

[Nick]

Really inspiring work this, thank you for sharing!

 

[xy mosian]

Beautiful work.
xy

 

[hurworth1967]

Looks stunning, lovely work & a great tribute to your mum. If you don’t mind my asking, what finish did you use on it ?

Dan

 

[Jonathan S]

Beautiful work!
Beautiful timber!

I could stare at pippy oaf for hours, for me its therapeutic, like the flames in a fire!

Jonathan


Sent from my SM-J530F using Tapatalk