Back! With a Trophy Stand

Hi Everyone!

It's been a long while since I've been able to post and I've come with a cool project I just finished this past weekend. I'm super busy at work and am coaching rugby so time with the family is important but I am endeavoring to get caught up and show you the cool stuff I have been up to!

I belong to a group of super cool dudes called Aidrie Dad's or AD for short. Every year a few of them get together and organize a golf tournament designed to raise funds for our local charities. I'll like to the YouTube video at the end of this post so you can learn more about the cause.

They em were looking for a trophy to be made and one really awesome dude etched a decorative rock face with the AD logo on it then a call was put out for anyone who could build a base for it so they can put names of winners on it and just make the whole trophy look awesome... The rock looks wicked and I think the base is a close second.

So the base I volunteered to make for the trophy as I had some walnut plywood scraps hanging around my shop that would work great for this project and give me a chance to try out some different tool techniques as well. Below are some photos of the build process.

I was given some dimension ideas from another AD in the group and decided to go with two tiered mitered boxes out of the walnut plywood. I cut the mitres and then got an opportunity to try out a festool domino to install mortise and loose tennons in the mitres to hide the joinery. I have to say, that tool makes mortise and tenons so fast and is really easy to set up once you learn how it works!

The domino is very similar in concept to a biscuit joiner but allows for much more solid joinery that will expand and contract through the seasons but keep the pieces joined together perfectly aligned. Totally delightful experience using this tool.

In in the top panels of the trophy boxes, i resawed some 8/4 walnut to give a similar style in both tiers. I used epoxy and black paint pigment to stabilize the knot in the very top area which turned out really awesome!

After sanding and cleaning the surfaces with mineral spirits, 4 coats of shellac were applied to give the base a thick, smooth protective finish just as a trophy should have I'd say! Below is the finished trophy!

This was a really cool project. I love the mission of the Airdrie Dad's and am glad to be part of the gang! Thanks for checking out my work! I have lots more to come!

Here's the promo video about the golf tournament: