There are some pieces of walnut that have been in my family since my mom was a small child.  They were used to hold things down and as ballast in a sailboat.  Some sections are incredibly solid, while others are somewhat worm eaten.  I needed a good mother’s day gift and got inspiration from what I call, the family wood.

The pieces are 2-3 inches thick and 6-8 inches wide.  Quite a heft to deal with on the miter saw.

I chopped off that nice rotted wormy section at the top for this project and a few others I have in mind.  I think with a bit of cleanup this could be a perfect book end for all of mom’s fancy book creations.

It probably isn’t heavy enough on its own to hold the books up.  I considered drilling it out to add shot and a grippy bottom.  Instead I cut a small relief in the bottom to allow a metal tongue to protrude.  The weight of a few books on this tongue should resist movement.  The metal is a bit of 20ish gauge sheet steel.  A good hit with a center punch depressed the area enough so that a countersink screw wouldn’t protrude.  Two part epoxy was probably overkill, but it will keep it from rattling.

I pulled off the really loose chunks, brushed everything down, and planed the 3 vertical sides that weren’t wormy.

No project is complete without a little message to remember it by.

I may have gotten carried away with getting it finished and off to her early.  I did a number of coats of spray lacquer and never took a photo of the finished product.  Luckily for me, mom is a great photographer, and sent me some really pictures of it in use with her homemade books.  Happy Mother’s Day!