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Once the plate is smoothed to a fine finish, I am spraying the surface with a fine mist of water in order to get a first impression of the beauty the plate will have after finishing.

Again, the edge area is left to be finished in later steps.

The selected matching rib stock strips (before being cut to length) laid out on the master mold in the position they will appear in the rib structure. I lay out the strips so that the slope of the flaming is in the same direction as you go around the rib perimeter.

Marking the length cuts for the various pieces. I use a small band saw with a mitre gage to cut the strips to length. A sharp knife against a metal straight edge will work well also.

In this photo, I have clamped the master mold vertically in a small vise and clamped # 100 sand paper in the location of the bottom block with two spring clamps. There is a 0.040" spacer beneath the sand paper so the sanded shape will fit when the block is glued to the ribs (which will be 'under' the end blocks).