The pith is the innermost core of the tree and is soft and spongy. This is
usually quite small in any but young trees, as the size is reduced as the
woody tissue grows. 'Coring out the pith' is a common saying but it is
usually a lot more tissue that needs removing as the surrounding area is
prone to checking if not already having done so while the tree was still
standing. Any other part that would be open for debate as to whether it is
softer or harder would not be pith. The area around the pith could degrade
and become softer for different reasons and perhaps that is where the
confusion lies.

"cad" wrote in message
oups.com...
You know Charlie, the point Arch and a few others just brought up, I
totally forgot about.

Enjoy it.

How ever you do it, its the doing that makes it so rewarding. Whether
you think its a beauty or crap, the experieince is what matters.

There are no rules here except for safety sake. Dont do anything that
risk your health when you turn, but by all means try new ideas you come
up with and have FUN.

I made a couple of large urns, composed of many pieces individually
turned, then glued together. They are beautiful to me, but that process
certainly didnt conform to any rules. I just thought it up, and did it.
I thoroughly enjoyed it too as I saw each new piece fit on to the total
piece.

It would certainly be along the same lines of doing what you proposed.

cad
charlie b wrote:
cad wrote:

Hi Charlie,
This is the scurge of the turner.

snip

This is what happens to wood that is drying when it contains pith.
Pith
wood is much more dense than the surrounding growth wood that
envelopes
it. The non pith heart wood cell's are spread out from each other more
than that compared to the tightly packed pith cells.

So as both dry, the cells of the heart wood travel more, and the mass
of it shrinks more, as the water occupying those spaces is eliminated.
The pith though, has less water, and since the cells are more compact,
dont travel much to cling to each other. So it shrinks very little.

All that heart wood is shrinking and getting smaller, and the pith is
in the direct path of where the heart wood needs to go. So since the
pith is blocking the way, the heart has no choice but to split apart
from the shrinking it is doing.

Basically, heart/sap wood shrinks more than the pith as they both dry.

I thought pith was softer than the surrounding wood. Trees often
rot from the pith outward. And having poked an awl into both
the pith as well as the non-pith surrounding wood. The pith felt
softer. And in the 3" diameter pieces of fruitwood trunk, with
the pith almost centered, the pith is very very small - in some
cases you really have to look closely to see it.

So why not drill out the pith in the bottom of a hollow vessel
and plug it with heartwood or sapwood?

charlie b