If you slice the log across and come up with a "round" slice then the
end grain is across that slice from bark to bark. If you cut into the
log and take a slice down the length then you are not cutting end
grain if you turn into the face of that slice.

With an end grain bowl or goblet, when you are starting to hollow out,
first take a parting tool or a skew and establish the width of the
rim. Decide how wide the thikckess of the rim will be and push the
tip of the tool into the wood, resulting in a groove from a quarter to
half an inch deep. Then work to that established edge with your bowl
gouge to hollow out the middle. When you get to the final shaping and
hollowing of the wall to that edge use your scraper held firmly on the
tool rest at an angle to make a shearing cut (so that too much grain
will not be torn).

I use a tool called a termite from OneWay for hollowing end grain. It
is a ring tool with different size tips. There had been a lot of
discussion of this tool on this group a long while back. Search the
archive through google and you will find threads about it. This tool
makes working end grain a lot easier with less catches - if you use it
correctly,

R

On Mon, 1 Mar 2004 23:10:54 -0000, "moggy"
wrote:

the stuff that I have been attempting so far is froma a slice through a log
(still trying to work out in my mind which way that leaves the end grain)
the middle I don't have a problem with, the dig in is always when I am at
the edge of the bowl.


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