Decorative gallows for Tattoo . .
Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 2:38 pmI had a leftover piece of mahogany that was large enough for a single-piece gallows. It was about 2" thick and wide enough to accept the design profile from combing to combing. Before the profile was cut, the rectangular shape of the stock made it eash to drill out (on my drill press) the parallel 1" holes for the supports. Then the profile was cut. The 1" holes left the wall thickness a little thiner than I wanted -- so I laminated (with grain crossed) 1/4" pieces of matching mahogany over the ends of the gallows on each side.
Next I commissioned Jerry Botkin, our local artist and sign man, to sand blast Tattoo on both sides and the first two measures of the bugle call "Tattoo." That call is longer than the boat! But just as beautiful. Jerry told me to apply one coat of varnish and then carefully apply a stain (two applications) to the letters, being very careful not to allow "bleeding" of the stain to the rest of the gallows. I thought that the stain wouldn't penetrate the varnish. He assured me that it would. After allowing several days to dry, I applied several more coats of varnish to all areas. It turned out pretty nice.
Next I commissioned Jerry Botkin, our local artist and sign man, to sand blast Tattoo on both sides and the first two measures of the bugle call "Tattoo." That call is longer than the boat! But just as beautiful. Jerry told me to apply one coat of varnish and then carefully apply a stain (two applications) to the letters, being very careful not to allow "bleeding" of the stain to the rest of the gallows. I thought that the stain wouldn't penetrate the varnish. He assured me that it would. After allowing several days to dry, I applied several more coats of varnish to all areas. It turned out pretty nice.