These end grain coasters were inspired by a YouTube® video by Art Mulder of Words N Wood, and started as a sketch with no particular wood species or techniques initially in mind.  I looked at wood samples at my local Rockler and decided Bubinga and Yellow Heart would make a good contrast.  After careful thought I realized that I could make the checkered pattern by gluing layers of contrasting wood together in a veneer press.  I could then slice the resulting “log” perpendicular to the layers, flip every other layer, and glue it back together.  To add more visual interest, I added actual veneers of walnut and maple to every other layer, which had to be done with both glue ups.  To make the process a little simpler, I pre-veneered the maple and walnut veneers to associated layers.  One difficulty that I needed to plan for was getting the layers to align during glue up.  To address this, I did two things.  First, the veneer press has two blocks mounted perpendicularly to the main surface that can be used to horizontally clamp the stack of layers against to make the layers line up.  Second, I offset two of the layers to create a protrusion in the final layers that can be used to align the layers in the second glue up so that the pattern matches up.  After the final “log” was complete I used a large round over router bit on the edges.  Then it was just a matter of slicing each coaster off on the table saw using a sled.  Then it spent many hours of detail sanding up to 400 grit.  They are finished with three coats of a 1 lb. cut of shellac, and three coats of polyurethane.  Finally, each coaster gets a thin piece of automotive gasket cork glued on with Duco Cement.  I made several sets as gifts and they were well received! (All photos Christopher Conrad except “Buginga and Yellow Heart Coasters.JPG” by Matthew Swoboda)

Launch Gallery