Tempus Volare #1

A chunk of maple that I had been “curing” looked like it had developed some “character” and it was time to use it or lose it.  With much anticipation I cut a piece off the end and it revealed some delightful meandering colors and lines.  These patterns in wood are referred to as “spalting”, and it’s not exactly caused by fermentation, but it’s definitely from some biological activity in the cellulose. Another woodworker once told me that the intricate black patterns were the battle lines between two microorganisms competing for territory.  I don’t know if that’s true, but I do know that particularly with maple, the process is similar to aging wine - if you open it too soon there’s no complexity and if you wait too long it’s ruined. If all of the conditions are right and it ages just enough the results can be spectacular…and this was one of those times.

And what an opportunity! The feathery patterned wood was practically begging to be the wings of one of my flight-themed pieces.  Then I designed the rest of the components to accompany the wings, building on what I had learned with previous designs on that theme.  The biggest advancement here was the fabrication of a parabolic magnifying lens. I cast crystal-clear epoxy resin into a ring of contrasting walnut and maple segments, then shaped it on the lathe for a seamless connection between the wood and epoxy.  An educated guess determined the best curvature of the lens for magnification, but I was very pleased with the result.