Wood Valentines gift

[Micktoon]

Evening lads, just a quick post with what I made for 'wor lass' for Valentines day gift. As many people will know Geordie men are some of the most romantic creatures on planet earth I am not really sure what wood this is, but its a burr , could be walnut ? Anyway I band sawed a heart shape out of a block that was just slightly bigger than the heart shape.



I then ran the router around to remove some of the bulk of wood I wanted off, keeping it constant from center line.



I then started sanding by hand with P40 paper on sanding block type thing as in this photo, trouble was by the time it was held enough to be able to sand it , I couldnt get good angles to sand the shape.



Plan 'B' was Makita 4 inch electric sander upside down on the bench and hold the heart against the rotating belt .... still not that easy but doable.



Then just sanded with rough belt until I more or less has the shape I wanted.



From then I had a smaller hand sanding block with sponge type soft flexible side to it and refined the shape through finer grits of sand paper.



Until it ended up like this , I think it was P600 , then a 3M type grey sanding pad.



This was final finish.



Then a coat of cellulose sanding sealer , that was wiped straight off when still wet so it just seals the wood but leaves it still smooth.



I then buffed it on the lathe with this 'Pine brush' , its quite fine but just gets things a little smoother, then it was waxed and buffed up with a cotton buff again on the lathe.



This was the finished item , it looked more smooth and shiny than in the photo to be honest......................... I am pleased to reporrt that she was very happy with it so all the sanding was worth it in the end :thumbup:

Cheers Mick