Bobland

A walnut Thorens TD-124 with a little extra sheen.

A straight grain walnut plinth with dramatic corner joins sent off last week.

Most who know me know that I love bowling, so I made this faux bowling lane bench top for my shop. A friend at an ad agency contacted me about 1-1/2 years ago to see if I wanted to take away their massive, outdated conference table. I had no idea what I’d do with it but I eventually relented and picked it up with the help of a couple friends. It sat disassembled in my shop for months before the lightbulb came on that the pieces were nearly the perfect size to make an L-shaped benchtop.

I got the top panels planed at Creative Woodworking in Portland and glued them into wider pieces at the shop. The idea to inlay walnut arrows and dots came to me later after several visitors assumed the top was made from an actual bowling lane.

It’s been hard to find time to complete this project, but I finally applied topcoat over the last couple of nights after abusing it unfinished for way too long.

Oh the day to day joy this fake bowling lane will bring me.