Looking for a crafty brain...

[Addison he/him]

Hello again!

I am still working (slowly) on that Allomantic Table and I have run into an issue. I'll post the centerpiece again to make it easier to explain.

I am cutting out the inserts for those symbols and having a heck of a time.

First off, I stained the centerpiece and wasn't happy with it. The stain brought out some huge cut marks that I couldn't really see before, so I sanded the whole thing down a bit and got rid of the stain and the marks. I restained it and it looks much better now.

I got a piece of 1/8" thick wood to cut the symbols from to put in the 1/8" pockets. Well... Either the wood wasn't really 1/8" of I sanded a lot more than I thought I did (or both) because the symbols are in now way flush with the surface of the centerpiece. So I need to sand them. These symbols have a lot of sharp points that I made as sharp as possible, which means if I try to sand them they are going to break. I could put them into the pockets to stabilize them, but then I would be sanding the centerpiece again as well.

I may be able to sand the 1/8" wood I am cutting the symbols from down to something that will be flush... I just thought of that. Typing helps me think...

I will try that, but I am beginning to think that the wood won't work for the inserts, because it is just too fragile.

Can anyone think of anything else I could use that would look good? I would love something I could just pour into the pockets, but I doubt I will find anything like that that looks good. So, crafty people, do you have any ideas?

[Feloxia she/her]

You could cut out the shapes from a piece of paper. Then put the shapes into the pockets and place the paper with the shape cut out over it and sand just the shapes without sanding the centerpiece.

...I don't know if that was a good explanation D:

[Cuaiir he/him]

wood putty tends to be good for filling in holes, but at those sizes I'm not sure you'd like the look of it. I do know it can be stained and sanded once it dries, which is nice.

Again, I'm not sure you'd like the look of it but you could also try fiberglass cloth and polyvinyl resin. Very damage resistant, and you can add pigment to the resin to get different colors (make each metal the color of itself - gold is gold, tin is tin-colored, etc).

I don't know, really. I'd say wood putty would be your best bet for consistency, though.

[Addison he/him]

Thanks for the ideas guys. I think what I'll try first is sanding my 1/8" wood down to something thinner than what I need before milling the pieces, then use something (like wood putty) under them to build them up.

[Zas678 he/him]

I have to say, regrettably, that my first instinct to "what could be poured in there" was Jello. Sorry, but wouldn't that be the coolest Jello molds EVER?

[Addison he/him]

Actually, it wouldn't be terribly difficult to mill one of the symbols a lot larger and from a molding plastic... Now I want Jello. :-\

[Cuaiir he/him]

mix antifreeze and colorless gelatin, add some pigment.... yeah, you'd have a slightly squishy metal symbol. Hmmm....

[KChan she/her]

Bondo might work well, as it can be sanded and gives a nice, hard, smooth surface that can be painted. I thought of Sculpey but it would probably not work so well, because it shrinks when baked.

I would suggest putting in the wood pieces and very, very gently sanding them down by hand. It would take a lot of patience, but at least you'd get them flush, and you could still use wood.

You could also just leave the cuts open, stain the insides a darker color, and then put a glass top of your your table. That could look really cool.

[Kuri Shardweaver he/him]

My horrible suggestion would be to melt down the actual metals to fill the holes. Or at least, the closest approximations, anyway. Since I don't think you'll be able to find atium anywhere around here

Dangerous, but it'd look freakin' sweet.

[EHyde she/her]

Could you mix metallic powders with casting resin, if you wanted a metallic look?

[KChan she/her]

Ooo, now that's a neat idea! That might look really cool!

[Feloxia she/her]

That would look way cool!

And now I really want Atium to be real D:

[Joe ST he/him]

That would look way cool!

And now I really want Atium to be real D:

Atium-schmatium, Lerasium ftw!

[KChan she/her]

Atium-schmatium, Lerasium ftw!

This. A thousand times this. XD

[CrazyRioter she/her]

This. A thousand times this. XD

Thirded.

Although I fear the results of this bunch becoming Mistborn.....somebody should write a 17th Shard fanfic about that. Or maybe we need a new RP. Or would that just be silly?

[KChan she/her]

It's hard to say, because I've never been a big fan of self-insertions to begin with, so I'm a bit biased. It's fun to imagine, though! Man, getting around campus would be so much easier...

[Ego]

...The running-out-of-cash midair might be a little hazardous, though.

[CrazyRioter she/her]

there's a metric crapload of metal objects in a modern city. I don't think it's a big problem as long as you pick the right ones to use as anchors!

[Ego]

By 'right', you mean... 'Whoops, there goes the electricity cable'

[EHyde she/her]

Cars: useful for transportation even when you don't drive...