Definitely Artsy…and Awesome!
Even after this applewood tree trunk turned into an awesome centerpiece, I still don’t consider myself an artist. Am I being too hard on myself?
Part 1 of this journey can be found HERE
The original part 1 post to this piece began a handful of weeks ago. A friend had given me an old, partially rotted and nearly forgotten about piece of applewood tree trunk. My mission after the initial couple weeks of staring at it in the corner of the workshop became clear…a finished tabletop centerpiece that is beautiful and aesthetically functional.
I started by chipping off any of the clearly rotten pieces from the trunk. This was mostly on the underside which worked out great as it would be sitting fairly level on any table surface for the future.
After the large pieces were gone, it was time to dig in. The wire brushing was very time consuming. I spent a good number of hours utilizing wire brushes of different sizes, at different speeds & angles all to get through the greyed exterior layer. The “nooks & crannies” required extra detail with a small scale high speed mini brush. After the bulk of stripping was done, I began going over things with a finer mesh brush to clean the overall look up.
To keep this piece functional I wanted to recess in two “holder” sections (for mini plants, succulents, candles, stones etc.). This proved challenging and time consuming as any drill or router bit would have been too large and unstable. They also ran the risk of digging in too deep and punching through. Naturally I did what I always have in a situation like this, I drew out the overall circular relief I was trying to achieve and carved it out by hand…one millimeter at a time. 
Doing this was challenging but rewarding. The end result (as you’ll see in a few pictures below) is a finished piece that really has aesthetic function. The final mill step was to level the bottom “feet” points. Some patience with a chisel and my digital level was happy…winning!
After I was satisfied with the overall design, look, function & layout it was time to select a finish. I wanted durability and of course, function! I know this will be on someone’s dining room table or kitchen table so having it be food safe was a must as well. I opted for a two part process on this. The first after having cleaned off all the dust was a single layer of Rubio Monocoat Pure. I let this set up for around 36 hours and then did a wipe down with Pure Tung Oil. This bumped up the sheen (to around Satin or just below semi-gloss) which I think turned out great.
Overall this was a challenge for me. It wasn’t the time or tedious actual woodworking but rather the aesthetic “artsy” flow of it. As I said in my original post I don’t consider myself an artist. Taking the time on this piece and allowing the design to flow really helped me push past what I thought were creative boundaries. I look forward to the next time a piece like this may cross my workbench as I’ll be ready for the adventure.
What are your thoughts on the before & after?
Additional pictures of the “Applewood Trunk Centerpiece” can be found HERE