Food Presentation Boards

In January of this year I started making these food presentation boards in Walnut and Oak as a prototype to see if they would sell. I only made two of these in a medium size board. It wasn’t long before I had customers asking for engraving on the handle and other sizes.

The above is the medium board in oak with engraving on the handle. I received a nice order from Ava’s Kitchen in New Jersey. Attilio is the owner, never been there but their pizza sure looks delicious! Attilio had purchased pizza boards from three years ago and was still following me on Instagram. When he saw my post on these he emailed me and gave me a nice order with engraving.

I designed a small board, above picture compares the small board (left) to the medium size board. Most of my orders are for Walnut wood.

Who doesn’t like Pizza?!!  I made an extra large board that will easily hold a 12″ pizza for myself. I use it all the time when I make homemade pizza. A local pizzeria owner had purchased boards from me before and when I showed him this new board he purchased a bunch of them to use in his restaurant.

These boards are great for serving anything, above are french pastries from our local french pastry shop in downtown Greenville. Their pastries are to die for!

One of my customers sent me an email with pictures of her homemade cinnamon rolls on the extra large board!

These boards can be used for serving food, charcuterie, pizza, etc. If you have a family gathering or parties this is the perfect food tray for you! It will be the talk of your party!

After months of hard work and dedication, my NEW website is live!! I would love it if you would go take a look, here is the link:  MichaelsWoodcrafts

www.MichaelsWoodcrafts.com

For more information, view more images or to order, click SHOP NOW

Making a Recessed Wine Bottle Stopper

Happy Friday!!!

It’s been awhile since I last posted and I miss everyone!! I’ve decided that I am going to try and post once or twice a week!

One of my most popular items are the wine bottle stoppers I turn on my wood lathe. They are very unique because they are recessed, meaning that the cork is on the inside of the wine stopper and can not be seen wen the stopper is on the bottle.

I can up with this design 20 years ago when my wife mentioned to me that the wine stoppers I was making were too tall.

A recessed wine stopper has the cork inside and slides over the bottle neck. The couple pictures above are a good example of how they work. You can not see the cork thru the bottle, all you see is the beautiful wine stopper!

 

The colors resin colors are endless, between the Maple burl and the colored resin, each wine stopper is unique. It’s virtually impossible to make two wine bottle stoppers with the same colors!

I start by creating a hybrid blank which I make using Maple burl and colored resin. I cut the piece of maple burl and place it into a square mold and the pour in the colored resin. In about 7 days it is dry and is ready to turn. I really like using the Maple burl, you never know what colors and grain you will see once it is turned.

Then I will mount the blank to the lathe and start turning. Here are a few pictures of the process.

 

 

Once the wine stopper is turned and while still on the lathe, before applying the high gloss finish there is a lot of sanding to do. I will sand starting at 150 grit then 180, 220, 240, 320 grit all the way to 12,000 grit.

I like a high gloss finish, in order for me to get the high gloss I apply 40 to 50 coats of CA finish while the lathe is turning. CA is the short name for Cyanoacrylate glue, super glue.  I apply a few drops of CA to a paper towel and while the late is turning I apply it to the stopper. Then I spray is with a accelerator that dries it instantly. I do this 40, 50 times or more until I am happy with the finish. Once the CA hardens it is very durable.

 

After the finish is done, I will then, buff an polish the stopper by hand. Then I mount the cork. It takes 24 hours for the glue to dry from installing the cork, then is it ready to use!!

 

A wood turned bottle stopper is a great accent to a good bottle of wine.  I enjoy making my recessed wine bottle stoppers!

To see more pictures visit my Gallery of Wine Bottle Stoppers, click here

After months of hard work and dedication, my NEW website is live!! I would love it if you would go take a look, here is the link:  MichaelsWoodcrafts

www.MichaelsWoodcrafts.com

 

For more information, view more images or to order, click SHOP NOW