I had another gift in mind using the family wood.  I couldn’t leave my mother-in-law out.  She is an avid reader, so I stuck with the book theme and made a set of bookmarks.  This is the thinnest resawing I have done, and I was planning to sand down even further.  We are getting into thin veneer territory here.  A fun project with a little skill building thrown in.  Cue up that gorgeous family walnut!

I planed the right side flat to have a good surface to start with, then used a marking gauge to mark off a plank of about 1/8″.  I might try my hand at doing thinner next time, but this was pretty thin for me.

I cut two just in case, but as it turns out each one was wide enough to make two bookmarks.  I left one quite long, and kept a full thickness of the top inch or so.  The rest of that one got thinned dramatically.  The intention is that the thicker portion will add strength, and keep a portion of it proud of the book when shut.

The shorter one was thinned across its entire length till it was pretty flexible.  To keep it from splitting It found a small piece of purpleheart and glued it on with the grain running perpendicular to the walnut grain.  A lot of shaping at the sanders gave it a nice look and feel.  The purpleheart piece will also keep the bookmark from slipping down inside the book.

Once sanded smooth both pieces got a few layers of spray lacquer.  The shorter one should be good for novels and other small paperbacks while the big one should be great for larger hardcovers.