"charlieb" wrote in message
...
Turning, by its very nature, is a dynamic process. From fresh cut
tree to roughed shape can be a matter of an hour or two. But then you
wait - for weeks or several months, before you can do the "finish"
turning
- and finishing. On the other hand, if you want to go rough to finished
piece
in one turning session - you have to start with dry wood - which took
months
or maybe a year or more to dry, and more than a bit of care to keep it
from
cracking, checking or splitting - too badly.


One of the advantages of CRS is that the piece you roughed and set aside
back when is almost a new thing when you grab it to do some turning of an
evening. I leave my stuff thicker - maybe an inch - than it needs to be to
regain circularity at desired thickness because I have a number of roughs of
this and that stashed in various places around the house I can pick, restyle
and even re-finish. When impatient I cut them a little thinner, sacrificing
restyling room so they're dry in a month, but it takes some really special
need. Mostly I rough when the wood's fresh and re-turn when I need a piece
or stock for a show.

I get the fun of creating in my mind, if not in reality, when I turn green,
and the instant gratification (OK, an hour or two maybe) of mounting a dry
blank and getting the first coat on in one sitting. Works for me, and it's
way ahead of buying dried squares or drying squares with the risks involved
there. Of course I do occasionally run across weird shapes that prompt me
to ask "what was I thinking?" Some have been reshelved a dozen times
pending return of original inspiration. No sense spoiling a good idea with
the requirements of the present.

Betting every one of us who's a flat worker also has some obviously pre-cut
pieces for a project we can't remember stacked out of the way for space and
cleanliness.