This is a pie server, carved from a piece of mesquite I picked out of the firewood pile. Total length is about ten inches. The blade is just a little over 2-1/4 inches at its widest point.

I mentioned a week or so ago that I was having difficulty cutting a straight line with the bandsaw. I still need a bit more practice, but the biggest help was getting a better blade. I was using a cheap 1/4″, 6 tooth-per-inch blade that I picked up at Lowe’s. I broke that blade on Saturday and replaced it with a 3/16″, 4 TPI blade that I had hanging on the wall. I thought that blade was bad, because I was having trouble with it. But my troubles were apparently due to the bandsaw being misaligned, and I fixed those problems last month.

That 3/16″ blade wasn’t cheap ($25 or $30), but it makes a huge difference. Not only does it cut straighter, it cuts cleaner and faster, even through a piece of mesquite that was 6″ thick. No more cheap blades for me.

I cut the rough shape of this pie server out on the bandsaw, used a knife to clean up the cuts a bit and shape the handle, then used a belt sander clamped upside-down on the bench to flatten the blade. The rotary tool finished shaping the handle, and then it was a bunch of hand sanding up to 600 grit before finishing with Howard Butcher Block Conditioner.

The cracks radiating from the knot were fairly deep. I filled them with super glue, sanded it smooth, and repeated the process twice more to get all the cracks filled in. I’m rather happy with the result.