A few years ago, I saw an ad for some wood finishing product (maybe Formby's). The ad showed a photo of a stair post made of some really rich, detailed wood, carved with one of those abstract fluer-de-lis shapes.
But the wood's surface had also been carved/punched/shaped into a mosaic of little wood pebbling. Tiny beads, maybe 1/16" to 1/8" in diameter. (Obviously, this was a fine-grain wood.) The distribution was pleasantly random, and it had a nice, almost leathery look to it. It was a really nice piece of woodworking.
I'd love to be able to use this pattern on a project or two, but I'm not sure how it could be accomplished. It appears that the texture was punched in, bead by bead. But it occurred to me that a fine-tip beading bit and something like the Compucarver could, conceivably, be ginned to turn this sort of pattern out. And then there's the possibility that this surface could be ordered from a professional mill.
Assuming I'm doing a decent job of describing this surface texture, can someone offer some insight into doing it? If it's done with a punch, what punch'd be recommended? Are there mills that make this stuff? Etc., etc., etc.?