Ingredients (Makes One Coaster)
- Three pieces of walnut ¼" thick by 5/8" wide by at least 9 1/2" long (but see Discussion, below). You should probably cut these from a single, wider piece (a little over 2", allowing for the saw kerf) and keep them in order, but I don't know how much this will affect the end result. You don't, obviously, want wildly different grain patterns and tones.
- Four pieces of maple ¼" thick by 5/16" wide by at least 9 1/2" long (but see Discussion, below). Again, these should be matched to some degree, as for the walnut.
- General Finishes Enduro-Var urethane (or similar) to finish.
- 1/16" thick pressure sensitive cork sheet (or dots, or similar) for underside.
Instructions
These instructions (and the lengths of the wood pieces given in Ingredients) simplify construction as much as possible, but waste almost half of the wood. If you want to try to waste less wood, watch the video that inspired this coaster and read Discussion, below. If you want to do something useful with most of the otherwise wasted wood, read Offcut Coaster, below.
- Glue all the wood into a single sheet, alternating pieces of maple and walnut. Obviously, there will be maple at the edges. The sheet will be 3 1/8" wide and however long you made the pieces.
- Sand flat on both faces (and make sure the faces are parallel), but at this point don't worry about getting the wood smooth as you'll be sanding again soon.
Discussion
