Ash Natural

Thats is beauty in all simplicity. I love it!!

Very good looking! Great job makes me jealous

It didn't take long at all, the shape of it is just the shape of the fork all i did was remove the bark, taper the tips how i wanted and i did carve the scallops on the heel, that's it. I stained it with Minwax "Provincial" stain then three coats of wipe-on poly. I guess it is a bit on the small side, only in the sense that there is no extra wood hanging out when i hold it. when i hold it all you can see is the last inch and half of the forks sticking out, you can't see the heel at all, i cut it so it fit my hand perfectly. but it doesn't feel small when i hold it.

This was from an ash branch that i cut down while doing yardwork in October. No splits whatsoever. the trick is to smear wood glue (i use titebond 2) on the fresh cut ends of the fork, once the glue dries it is nearly water proof. it forces the fork to dry through the bark not the cut ends, thus preventing splitting. I even started work on this while it was still a little wet. when i wasn't working on it i put it in a zip-lock bag, again this prevents it from drying out too fast. when i was first removing the bark i would put it in the bag, a few hours later the bag would have condensation on the inside. just kept it in the bag whenever i wasn't working on it. by the time i was ready to stain it, there was no more condensation being formed on the inside of the bag. Never got a split.

The whole key to preventing splits and cracks is slowing down the rate at which water is removed.

Its beautiful...............

I bet the picture doesn't even do it justice ( even though it looks like good photography to me).

If I were to imagine a dream natural with a majestic look, and perfect shape, it would look very close to what you have procured. It also helps that it is of ash.

In all honesty, that is incredible, the grain, the shape, the size, the shine.....the list goes on

Congrats - John