Evan!
Well-Known Member
Well, it kind of sucks to be using this beautiful wood on something so utilitarian, but you use what you got, right? I needed some hard wood (that's certainly what she said), and maple fit the bill---all I had was some wormy, which is WAY too pretty for this, and some curly, which I decided to use. I don't have a coping saw, so it wasn't easy. I traced the outline with some varying-sized rolls of tape, because I don't have any curve templates either. I cut it out with a jigsaw, then squared the edges with a flush router bit. I sanded the edges, then took a 1/4" roundover router bit to it. I cut 7/8" holes staggered on the paddle end, rounded those out, then worked my way up on grits to 600. I then wiped it down with moist towel to bring out the grain, and went up to 600 grit once again. It took a lot of work, but I think it's ready to be put into the lineup...