Ok, so I just found these photos on my other camera so this entry is a little out of order.
This bookmatched pair came from the most figured and beautiful section of the original slab and I have saved them for the podium (what I am calling the top part of the music stand). I had originally wanted to keep the natural edge and incorporate it into the design of the music stand.
This was part of the original plan, although I was not entirely decided:
After staring at it on the shelf for a few weeks, I finally decided I had to cut off the natural edges and make a panel
Oh well, I tried to keep it. But in the end this was the right decision.
Kind of a sad moment (I have a thing for natural edges).
I did the tung and groove joinery for the styles and rails on the router table.
The parts:
The two figured panels will be free-floating to allow for expansion/contraction with rubber “space balls” to keep them snug.
The glue-up:
This took about 3 hours for a total of 22 hours of building time so far.