I cut the two mates
Routed the rabbet
Ready to glue
Clamping was a little more involved due to the center of the boards needing compression as well as the edges
Next was the lead pour. It is very important to get this whole thing level so the lead cools level. It saves a lot of clean-up later. The concrete blocks help steady the leveling but it also turned out to be a good perch for my lead pot to rest while I poured.
Here is the almost finished product. Leads in and a light sanding to clean it up.
But the real challenges have now begun. Cutting this dado down the edge of the board proved challenging. It was difficult to steady in the table saw and the lead weight always seemed to pull it in the wrong direction
If you look closely at the top of the cut the right edge is precariously thin and some waste remains in the canal. A rersult of poor control when feeding the wood especially on a curved surface. I have no previous experience cutting curved edges on the table saw to fall back upon.
This part of the canal was a bit more centered
Jury rigged a set up to hold the board while I filled the canal with epoxy.
My first try the epoxy was too liquid and it wanted to move to one end or the other (a problem on a curved edge).
But I learned to thicken it up more (yes, it says this in the manual) to a peanut butter consistency and it was much easier to apply. Like spreading it on bread. And very forgiving to poorly cut edge dados. The epoxy, once in the slot, covers a lot of errors. Great stuff. It took two fills to get the final surface flush with the wood edges. I'm curious how it will take to a grinder?
Now to clean up the edges before tackling the tapered edges.
Next, work those edges and cover the piece with glass and epoxy.
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