Working plan

Making a knot Huh

Yes, Im making an artificial knot! Heres the story -
I only have so much maple left on the desk project that I need to use on the desk top. However, one of the pieces has a large knot hole right through it. I couldnt cut around it because I would end up wasting a big chunk of expensive maple. So, being creative, I thought I would try to make an artificial knot, and make the entire piece usable! If worse comes to worse, Ill go buy another piece.
Ive started by cleaning all the loose debris out of the hole. Then, I found a different piece of maple scrap with a similar sized knot. I used the scroll saw to cut out the knot, and also to add some curvy lines going into the knot. I glued it in place to secure it. Then, using different colors of sawdust (some oak and some maple), I built up the cavities around it in layers. Once the levels rose to the top, I started adding some different colors of putty (maple, walnut, black, and oak). The black lets me achieve some "veins". I still have some detail work, but here are pictures of the progression of the artificial knot. If it comes out good, I will have saved the piece of maple, saved some extra expense, and will integrate it into the desk top!