"Toller" wrote in message
news
http://www.frontiernet.net/~toller/bowl.jpg

Came out really pretty, but the tear out killed it. It was not like
normal tear out where some fibers tear out rather than cutting; hunks of
wood just pulled out. I think my tools were adequated sharp; maybe not.
The tear out is just bad on the outer part of the tree, but horrible on
the inner part.

Interesting thing is how it drank up LBO. I have never seen a wood so
thirsty other than maybe spalted maple.

And, I learned there there is actually something worse than tear out. I
tried to fix it by mixing glue with willow dust and filling in the tear
out. Now it looks like tear out filled with glue and willow dust.


Gouge angles are real important. Looks like you may have had too steep a
"sharpness angle," as they call it in hand planes. Of course, you had some
semi-rotten stuff to work with as well, which makes it even more critical to
keep things broad and thin. Bet you learned something in the process,
though.

Any tree that pulls water like the willow/aspen family is going to have a
problem pulling oil, which is why a finish with a reasonable amount of resin
to keep things more toward the surface is a good choice. Look for high
solids content when choosing your finish for these types of woods.