This is a very large, 18″, curly Maple platter. The curl is very evident throughout the piece and its size alone makes it fairly unique in my experience. I sourced this piece of Maple through WoodTurningz of Indiana. The company still has these blanks in stock (2) but they are quite pricey at $114.95.
Curly Maple Platter Interior
As is often the case with figured or ambrosia maple, this maple was from one of the several soft species although I don’t know exactly which one. It cut easily and fairly cleanly for a soft wood and being a soft wood it sanded extremely easily to a nice smooth finish ready surface.
Curly Maple Platter Side View
All cuts were made using the Easy Wood Tool system on my Robust American Beauty lathe. Forward chucking was in a Nova Chuck, while reverse chucking was done using a Easy Wood Tools Easy Chuck with Big Easy Jaws and Extension. Sanding was with Gold and Green Wave sanding discs from Packard Woodworks. Final finish is Shellawax. Note that I applied and buffed a coat of Shellawax EEE Ultra Shine as an under layer before applying the Shellawax.
As always, I wish all my readers a great experience in whatever your wood working interests happen to be and to those who like working with lathes especially, do a good turn today!