Okay, you're cool.I started a two-ring map (taking the seas down to the second ring of sapwood) on a piece of firewood with an exacto knife tip a couple months ago but haven't gotten around to finishing it. It's much less awesome than your table.
If you don't mind (because I'd like to try something like this in the future, and I'm curious)... What have you found to be the easiest and most difficult aspects of carving this?
Are you going to label it at all or leave it blank?
The easiest part sort of depends. Certain spots in the wood carve better than others. If you're near a knot, good luck. The smaller chisels definitely work better, cause you can apply more pressure more easily to one spot, so I've done this whole table with my 1/4" chisel. The chiseling though has been pretty smooth. I have slipped once or twice though, and let's just say there are 2 or 3 minor islands that are no more.
The hardest part is probably the fact that I'm carving it on top of a coffee table, and it's like 18" off the ground. Being 6'3", it's kinda weird. If I had an actual shop of sorts and could stand while working, that might make it easier to work for long periods of time.
Work height could be jury-rigged easily enough... padded milk crates under the edge of the table or somesuch, or perhaps lean it against a wall and chisel the top half? But the knots. Hmm... Do you think it would be worth drilling shallow pits in them with a small drill bit to soften them some before chiseling? I guess I'll try it on some firewood and find out. Anyhow... Thanks for indulging my curiosity! I've used rasps and planes a bit but not chisels so that gives me a better idea of how to go about it. And what tools to use; I have an old set of large chisels but now I think I'll find some smaller points to start with.
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