re: Vases

Thanks again people!

John,
For these roses, I cut the parts with a kerf between adjusted to be close, but not have to fight to get them all together.
I then glue it all up and let it dry.
Next step is to laser the design with a hot pass tracing out all the shapes to clean out the borders and even out the spacing.
One direct path for the stem/leaves and then a wider pass (offset cuts) for the flower to fatten up the line.
Usually I'd then fill the gap with black resin, but it is tricky to keep the black dye from bleeding into the veneer.
With the border burning, the char adds the black so I just use a clear filler (AquaCoat) to level it out. This woks well on thin lines, but fatter lines like the FLW panel I made use resin for the consistency.

The previous "Ellis" design has the kerf set tight, but it is hard to get the proper setting as each type of veneer cuts a bit different. This is where the masters who use saws can really dial it in for perfection (and not get the black edges).


OT:
18 century? Did you ever menace ants with a magnifying glass as a kid, I'm sure that is a valid 18th century tool 🤠