Well, My 2 sons' school is having a carnival this Friday and they have a silent auction to raise funds for the classrooms every year.
LOML and I were going to just give a few bucks or a case or two of copy paper (their classrooms are ALWAYS running low on copy paper) but when my wife mentioned that to my oldest's teacher she remarked "thank you... but... I was kindof hoping your husband could do a little something that he made if it wasn't too much trouble"-- and that she and other teachers were looking forward to seeing what I came up with...
How could I resist a compliment like that...
Theme of my youngest's class auction is Mexican or Italian- so LOML bought an italian cookbook and I made a stand with my carvewright. It was my first "roubo style" done on the Carvewright and it cut (significantly) down on the time it took to make a stand as compared to chopping them by hand (I did this for my last one)
The wood is domestic conifer with a quick hit of shellac followed by a gel stain (minwax oak)
For my youngest I made a stand that is in line with the school mascot-- I'll judge the reactions by the teachers and it is possible I'll make a bunch as teachers' gifts. The total cost of these (1x8x22 for each piece) is well under $2 per stand and the carve goes VERY quickly (around 30 minutes) I made one with a sled and a 1x8 the other I just skipped the sled and used a 1x10 and carved in the "center"
I'm going to give it a bit of shellac and acrylic paints in the lettering and outline tomorrow.
The notch in the front allows me to seperate the top part without bandsawing the entire top-- I only need to cut off about 2 inches. This significantly cuts down on the fudge factor when resawing.
Thanks for looking
Lawrence