Galileo Thermometer

In looking for vineyard pictures from the last few years I ran across this weather station I created for my father-in-law for Christmas 2009.  If you have a woodshop and want to create a simple yet very cool gift for someone, this is a perfect choice.  I love the look of Galileo thermometers; they’re a good conversation piece and are accurate too.  I used tiger maple for the one below, which has a good look.  I stained it with an alcohol based stain and finished it with 6 very thin coats of lacquer.