I had carved a skull out of Spalted Maple that was sitting on the shelf waiting to be part of a project when I started working this Maple I thought it would be a good fit. The Maple had nice quilting I had purchased it over 10 years ago and got a good deal because the figure didn't go across the board completely but for a cane it would work. The best figure I didn't want to lose by cutting it into a traditional width cane. So I kept it wide and thought of a design that could work with kind of a tuxedo with collar and the skull that was sitting around.
Now that it was going to be paired with a skull I figured that I couldn’t go wrong with a deep red dye to enhance the quilted figure. I started by mixing up a red and then adding some black to it which turned out like a dark purple when applied, I had planned on sanding most of this away leaving area where the wood fibers absorbed more retaining some. Then mixed up some red and applied it, and started the finishing.
After applying some coats of lacquer and sanding it flat I wasn’t happy with the color, I sanded a little bit more mixed a deeper red applied it and then two coats a day until I had 10 coats. I still need to rub it out but it needs to cure for a couple of weeks but the last coat flowed on pretty good so I photographed it. Hopefully I won’t mess up the final rubbing out but here it is now in case I do.
Now that it was going to be paired with a skull I figured that I couldn’t go wrong with a deep red dye to enhance the quilted figure. I started by mixing up a red and then adding some black to it which turned out like a dark purple when applied, I had planned on sanding most of this away leaving area where the wood fibers absorbed more retaining some. Then mixed up some red and applied it, and started the finishing.
After applying some coats of lacquer and sanding it flat I wasn’t happy with the color, I sanded a little bit more mixed a deeper red applied it and then two coats a day until I had 10 coats. I still need to rub it out but it needs to cure for a couple of weeks but the last coat flowed on pretty good so I photographed it. Hopefully I won’t mess up the final rubbing out but here it is now in case I do.
