Turn salad bowls out of the cherry. I would try to get a whole set out of
them (one larger mixing bowl and 4+ serving bowls). Then make the mixing
tongs (or fork & spoon set) too.

Or you could even laminate alternating 1" planks (maple/cherry/maple/cherry
etc) to build up your turning blanks. Then your bowls would have those cool
layers. That would be impressive.


codepath




"Hitch" wrote in message
. ..
I'm going to have a few trees taken down in my yard (Seattle, Washington
area) and wonder if a couple might be good for a workbench top. One is a
broadleaf maple with the log diameter around 12 inches or so, and another
is a fruitless cherry, about the same size logs. Both are leaning some
(hence their planned demise) and I suspect they will contain a fair amount
of reaction wood. Thus, I don't expect I could mill out thickish boards
and not have them move and check significanlty with humidity changes, but
how about if I were to cut fairly thin strips (~1/2" x 3") and laminate a
bench top? I did this with my current bench, which is made of recycled
oak
flooring, but I don't like the open pore surface of the oak, and the top
is
only 1-3/4" thick, and I'd like a full 3" thick top.

Is either the maple or the cherry going to be hard enough for general
woodworking use? Is a top made of laminated thin strips going to be
fairly
stable? I would guess that it would be, because plywood is stable, but am
I wrong? Would one be better than the other?

Or should I just try turning bowls out of the wood? I've heard that
reaction wood from maple can have a lot of curly or quilted grain.

--
John Snow
"If I knew what I was doing, I wouldn't be here"