My thoughts. How about a cutting board for the 'sheet maker'? They tend to be dense wood and very smooth. The Sep/Oct 1995 'Countryside' has an article about making a 'foundation press'. I haven't read it yet, just skimmed. Looks a lot like the discussions here a few months back. To be honest (engineer's opinion here) I like the sheet idea a lot. Forget the molten wax in a press. Make sheets then impress the pattern in them using the press warmed to the wax softening point. Logan