My stepdaughter honored me with the request of producing a cake topper for her wedding cake. After I wiped back the tears I set about the task. It has a walnut base upon which a hand carved walnut tree sits as a support for the Paduak hearts. In the front is a hand carved couple made of basswood and to the sides are miniature versions of the larger maple and walnut leaves. The larger leaves are for the unity candles. Each piece was finished before assembly. The last coat of Poly urethane was applied to the hearts 3 days before the wedding. The following morning with all the excitement of a new dad, i entered the shop to find that even after 30 hours cure time the hearts were still tacky. I had no idea paduak could not be finished with polyurethane. And no body could tell me why till i talked to the manager at Rockler who explained the oiliness of the wood. He recommended using lacquer. So i set about the task of razor blading the finish off (it won't sand if it's tacky)at 10 oclock PM two days before the wedding I applied the lacquer. OH MY GOSH, IT LEAVES BRUSH MARKS! I'll never have time to sand and rub it out. So I went inside to pray and wait. The morning of the day before the event, i reluctantly entered into my shop. There on the bench was a beatiful piece of woodwork. The lacquer had flowed out smooth during it's cure time. You know by now i was pretty much a novice and had never used lacquer or dealt with an oily wood. I now have several books on just about every aspect of wood working and i constantly read various magazines about my new found craft. and I still Pray...alot... for patience, for good fortune when i create and most of all to thank him for the grace and results that he blesses me with.
Time to Build: 101-300 Hours
Difficulty: Moderate
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