I joined the two pieces with a steel dowel. I made the dowel by filing half of a square steel bar round. I then drilled a round hole in the top piece, and carved a square hole in the bottom piece. I epoxied the round half of the dowel into position. Once it dried I could take the top piece off for easier storage and shipping. Having a square shaped dowel to connect the two pieces eliminates the issue of the top piece moving due to vibrations.
I laminated the boards into a block and then hand carved the block. Because I wanted the lines created by gluing up the boards to be prevalent, I chose to work in Basswood. It’s light and even color would help emphasis the laminated lines. Basswood is a hardwood, but it is soft to carve, creating it’s own set of advantages and challenges. It’s a wonderful wood to carve.
If I were to finish the piece with a varnish or oil, then the blond, even color of the wood would darken (especially on the end grain) and my even tone would be lost. So I chose to finish the piece with Renaissance Wax. It is not as strong and protective as oils and varnishes, but it really finishes nicely and doesn’t effect on the natural color of the wood.
