In article ,
"Tom D" wrote:

Just a thought. Say you have an unlimited supply of logs (I wish) and
were not bothered about wastage. What would be the best way to cut a bowl
blank (a) for contrasting grain and (b) for least chance of splitting or
distortion.

For (a), it all depends on what look you're after:
If you place the heartwood at the bottom of the bowl you'll have the
lighter sapwood at the rim. If you place the bark at the bottom, you'll
have the lighter sapwood surrounded by heart to the rim. Just depends...

The times I make sure to orient one way or the other is if I'm looking
at a burl or if the heart grain is figured or wild.
If a burl, I'll usually place the bottom at the bark so that
the burl is assured to be in the bottom of the bowl. If you orient the
other way, you will very likely cut through all the burl and have a
regular grained bowl with burl at the rim.
If wild grain, I'll place that at the bottom for the same
reason as before - I don't want to run the risk of cutting it all away
when I hollow it out.

The above two instances, of course, depend on when you can't tell if the
desirable feature extends the complete thickness of the blank.

(b) Hmmm. I'll have to visualize the distortion some.

--
Owen Lowe

Northwest Woodturners
Pacific Northwest Woodturning Guild
___
Tips fer Turnin': Place a sign, easily seen as you switch on your lathe, warning you to remove any and all rings from your fingers. Called degloving, extended hardware can grab your ring and rip it off your finger. A pic for the strong of stomach: www.itim.nsw.gov.au/go/objectid/2A3AC703-1321-1C29-70B067DC88E16BFC/index.cfm

Besides, rings can easily mar the surface of a turning as you check for finished smoothness.