Well, it finally happened. I've read about "spectatcular" catches on
the lathe, but had yet to see one. That was until two evenings ago. I
had just near finished a beautiful 12" bowl of spalted maple and
decided to make one final finish pass on it before sanding. A few
seconds later, the gouge grabbed and the bowl basically exploded and
flew all over the shop. Spectacular? Maybe, disheartening, definitely.
I walked away without cleaning up my mess, disgusted.
This got me to wandering, what sayings do woodworkers use to overcome
or explain an unfortunate event such as this? As I walked to the house
I was thinking, "don't cry over spalted maple" or "don't count your
bowls before their turned". I know I've heard my grand dad say things
that only fellow workers of wood understood and I wandered if anyone
else out there had similar things to say.

JD