I'm so proud of what I got to do for my daughter Allison's wedding. She found a project online with little slices of logs made into place card holders. It's basically a slice of a log with a slit cut in the top to hold the card.
She wanted the wood to be from her grandparent's house in Colorado, so last weekend, off I went to get the wood.
I started when it was almost dark, even though the iPhone can make even dark settings look bright. This is the stand of trees where I found just the right ones.
I cut about a half dozen trees that were about 8 feet long each. I was looking for trees that were a consistent thickness from top to bottom so the pieces would all be close to the same size.
It was foggy and dark and quiet. The only sound I could hear was the snow hitting my jacket. I looked up and this horse was watching me. It was so serene. Almost spiritual.
I took all the wood into the garage and cut it up with a miter saw.
Here are 178 pieces of wood. 155 for the wedding and a few spares to experiment on.
Back in Minnesota, the experimenting began. I used a circular saw to cut the groove in the top. I finally got the right blade depth and angle so the card tilts back a little bit.
Allison would put the wood in the vice while I cut.
Susan put a coat of polyurethane on the bottom to hold the sap in. (Thanks to my buddy Mike for the tip on that one!)
Don't count them but there are about 160 pieces here!
And my daughter with the finished product. That was so much fun Allison! I'm glad we got to do it together! I love you!