I was talking to a friend about lining it in black velvet.  She said, “Shouldn’t it be white?”

This is a very interesting question.  I mean yes, kind of.  I’d have to get to the store and buy white velvet, and I have black on hand.  I think black shows off the grain and the stain better.  White might absorb some stain and be a problem, unless I put a lot of shellac after…but it would be the more appropriate choice, considering the sterility of the corporate environment.

Honestly, it would make an excellent ring box.  But I would have to create the cushioning specifically for that purpose, and I don’t think that is practical.  It will have to be a regular lining, regardless of color.

Anyways, here’s the second layer of the burn.

I was concerned, at first…large sections of dark burn are hard to get a consistent color on….the grain fights the image, and certain parts require longer burning than others.  I was able to do it here, though, which is nice.

The challenge was the inner labyrinth.  There is A LOT of strong grain on there.  Getting a consistent burn was really a bitch.  But I got it done.  You can see the strong dents of the grain going across the thing in a pattern because of the light source, and that will likely still show after staining.  But the shellac-ing might take some of that out.

I may actually be ready to start the staining process.  It seems like (for all the complexity of the labyrinth) this was a really fast project.  I might have it ready to possibly sell at the gaming con.  We’ll see.