monophoto
Member
I'm preparing to turn an expresso tamper handle and have a question. I realize that this more a matter of preference than technique, but that won't keep me from asking.
My local wood supplier doesn't carry turning blanks with my preferences of species, size and price (ie, I'm cheap), so I'm thinking of using some nicely patterned hard maple that was being sold as 'kindling' by a manufacturer of wooden kitchenware. The problem that I have is that I don't have a piece of the size required for the project, so I'm probably going to have to glue up an appropriate blank.
My experience with glue-ups is that the seam is always visible to some degree. Even under the best of circumstances, the discontinuity in grain pattern is a giveaway.
So I have a choice - either hope that the seam won't be too visible, or else celebrating the glue-up by laminating a piece of contrasting wood in the seam, perhaps a small layer of walnut.
So what is the general opinion - naked seams or emphasized seams?
My local wood supplier doesn't carry turning blanks with my preferences of species, size and price (ie, I'm cheap), so I'm thinking of using some nicely patterned hard maple that was being sold as 'kindling' by a manufacturer of wooden kitchenware. The problem that I have is that I don't have a piece of the size required for the project, so I'm probably going to have to glue up an appropriate blank.
My experience with glue-ups is that the seam is always visible to some degree. Even under the best of circumstances, the discontinuity in grain pattern is a giveaway.
So I have a choice - either hope that the seam won't be too visible, or else celebrating the glue-up by laminating a piece of contrasting wood in the seam, perhaps a small layer of walnut.
So what is the general opinion - naked seams or emphasized seams?