A customer ordered five of these 10" baskets in Black Walnut. He wanted a heavier wall, so these are 0.25" thick rings. I got a 10.5" wide board from a local sawmill, about 12' long ($10.50), that will be more than enough for this set. The walnut had been drying in his barn for some years and looked pretty washed out. It was cut from off-center of the log so the heartwood is mixed with sapwood. I was a little concerned that the color might not come back. Shows how much I know.
The basket is finished with Howard's Butcher Block Conditioner, basically a food safe mineral oil mixed with bee and carnuba wax. It came up so dark that it looks like it was burned with a torch. The sapwood veining really sets it off.
The second photo is the basket bottom showing my new brand. The wood is so dark that the brand is a little hard to read in the photo, but it shows up pretty well in person. I have been looking for 2014 pennies (or any 2014 US coin) to embed in the bottom but have not been able to locate any yet.
