On Thu, 07 Sep 2006 23:55:31 -0700, charlie b
wrote:

I've read several posts that warn against working with stuff
that has The Pith in it. Seems like cracks and splits will start
there. And it'll be a hole in the bottom of your piece - making
it impossible to hold water - though why that's important, since
most turned vessels / hollow forms will never actually hold
any liquid, is an issue is a mystery to me.

So what is it about pith that makes turning anything with
pith in it a No No!?

charlie b
I like to make natural edge bowls from the crotch area of
trees...(often just limbs), and I like them to be deep enough, so I
often just keep a close eye on the blank and keep some thin CA glue
and wood dust handy. If a crack 'seems' to start, I dust, fill, add
glue, sand and re-turn...etc... I 'almost' never lose a bowl, and
seldom does it detract so I'd be reluctant to show it.
.....and people buy them! So, it is just one more type of bowl to have
on the table. I make sure to have 'clean' items with no fill and no
cracks also, but where I show, al least, the weird, rough, off-center,
spalted, natural edged pieces sell better than perfectly symmetrical
stuff....so my CA glue is my constant companion.

Now all this being said, it makes a BIG difference which kind of wood
is being used. Some woods crack and check badly....some hardly at
all...and the thickness you prefer and the moisture content when you
start are critical. It jus ttakes experimenting...