mac davis wrote:

snip

I realized that the reason that Chuck's work flowed and mine didn't was because
I was trying to get the largest diameter bowl possible from every blank.. and
not "waste" wood..


Coming from "flat work", where 10-15% "waste" is typical, the idea of
sweeping up 80-90% of what I started with seemed crazy - and so
wasteful of precious wood. And like you described, newbies like me
don't want to waste hard to come by stuff - especially in the sizes
required for bowls and hollow forms. But after a while, once stacked
piles of logettes with sealed ends have been sitting around on the
driveway and tucked under the gar - make that shop - eaves for a
year or so and a chainsaw was acquired, things slowly begin to change
- as does the meaning of getting the best out of a chumk of wood.
"Best" goes from biggest diameter to nices form to show off the
wood AND end up with a pleasing shape. The term "wasted wood"
changes dramatically. Making an ugly piece which "wastes" the least
amount of wood is truly a total waste.

Now I'm going back to starting with what's normally waste wood,
and turn 95% of it into waste. Cribbage pegs anyone?

charlie b