Table top finish

[DickB]

So far I've done Minnesota lake maps. The Minnesota DNR has what they call the Data Deli: http://deli.dnr.state.mn.us/data_search.html

My preferred method is to use this data if it is available. There are many data sets offered; I use the Lake Bathymetric Digital Elevation Model (DEM):



I use a free program MapWindow to import and convert this data to a grayscale height map:



A little manipulation with paint.net and the Pattern Editor yields the desired patterns to carve.

If the bathymetric data is not available, I have another more tedious technique to work from contour maps, available here: https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/lakefind/index.html

[TerryWinslow]

I just poured the finish for the customer commission piece today. It's not in my shop - too dusty there. By now it has cured enough that I should be out of the woods. The customer preferred the stained versus blue tint finish. The subject Lake Minnetonka is south about three hours, near the Twin Cities, and is nearly the same size as the local Whitefish Chain of lakes. But being in the metropolitan area, it is very crowded. The locals here cringe when they refer to our chain of lakes as the "Minnetonka of the North" - we don't want that! The customer requested the "lake facts" to the left. This table top is destined for a boat. My understanding is that the table can be lowered to make up part of a bed. The top is 1-1/4" maple, almost 2' x 4', and quite heavy. Due to very slight irregularities in the long boards, It was a challenge to get my outfeed rollers adjusted just so to avoid tracking errors during the carve, which I worried over for about 6 hours total machine time.

Attachment 61755

Wow! That is absolutely beautiful!!