Slices of Monkey Puzzle

[bizzyb]

Hi Guys

I just got my hands on some monkey puzzle rings ranging in diameter from 30-36". I was thinking the would make lovely coffee table tops with maybe wrought iron legs(or if anyone has another suggestion?). What would be the best way to finish these, the are 5" thick, sand the hell out of them and a few coats of clear varnish?

 

[Spindle]

Hi

Are the rounds dry? if not I think you may experience them splitting radially quite badly, (to the point of being unusable for table tops). Maybe an idea to wait before expending effort on smoothing and cash on a finish. Stack them horizontally and seperated by battens somewhere cool dry and airy and see what happens.

Regards Mick

 

[marcros]

i saw this post earlier and have been thinking about it a little.

Could you turn them very thin and into shallow bowls/platters. Then somehow connect a number of bowls together and put a piece of glass over the top, so it looked like a series of decorative circles. You would need to cut it so that the knots were on display on top of the bowl, otherwise i think that the timber is a bit plain. I dont know a great deal about turning, but if you could face off until the knots were visible, then this would be the surface that you see under the glass, whether this should be done first or last i dont know.

 

[bizzyb]

Thanks for the replies guys, to be honest i haven't seen them yet,dont know how long the are cut i was just promised them by a friend of a fiend. I have never done any turning so its not really an option but i get what you are saying and it would look really good.

 

[marcros]

i think that you might be a bit disappointed by it if it is not turned- can be quite bland from what i have seen unless you expose the knots.