bobflynn

Thanks!

That's kind of you to say. I'm glad it was a hit with her.

When I first saw this Instructable I was just inspired by its artistic beauty. Then I saw how simple the video made making it look. Once I got going, however, I realized that I was either not going to be fast enough for the glue or my anal sense of order and precision meant I had to be more precise. Consequently I ended up making a frame for the top then building out and gluing the sides. Then, over the course of several weeks, I made custom pieces to gradually fill it in, gluing and clamping as I went. You can see a couple of photos from that puzzle-piece phase. I then routered the top, leaving things leveled, but grooved and the sanding ensued. After a LOT of sanding I found my happy place. After a coat of shellac and several of poly I was able to present my wife with her birthday pre...

When I first saw this Instructable I was just inspired by its artistic beauty. Then I saw how simple the video made making it look. Once I got going, however, I realized that I was either not going to be fast enough for the glue or my anal sense of order and precision meant I had to be more precise. Consequently I ended up making a frame for the top then building out and gluing the sides. Then, over the course of several weeks, I made custom pieces to gradually fill it in, gluing and clamping as I went. You can see a couple of photos from that puzzle-piece phase. I then routered the top, leaving things leveled, but grooved and the sanding ensued. After a LOT of sanding I found my happy place. After a coat of shellac and several of poly I was able to present my wife with her birthday present. And I was only two and a half months late! No worries, she is thrilled with the end product (she had no idea what was coming) and consequently so am I. One upside of my build-one-piece-at-a-time approach is that I learned a lot of new woodworking skills (as well as the value of a good heavy mallet!)