Last round of planing and opening the center hole. The burl billet now stands at 1.68" thick, with ~5.125" center hole and is very stable. It has never exhibited any signs of warping, twisting, or measurable change. If that holds true in the next few weeks or so, I will begin the process of carving out the rim. It gets Black and White Ebony wood inset into the spoke landing areas, and I start hogging out material between the three landings. If it survives all that, I will, eventually, someday, start whittling the final shape. I wonder if there's a record for the longest build time ever for an automotive steering wheel?! I bought this block about two years ago. It had been aged for three years at that point. Five years and counting, and I'm still working on the wood rim...
