"Barry N. Turner" wrote in message
. ..
I cut a few maple bowl blanks a couple of weeks ago out of some
freshly-cut
firewood. The log was about 10" in diameter. I chainsawed the log down
the
middle and bandsawed the pieces round.

I put the blank on the lathe and roughed a natural edge bowl. Then, I
placed it in a brown paper bag and set it aside for a few days.

Last Saturday, I mounted the blank on the lathe and began to shape the
bowl.
It was still very wet and tearing on the interior end grain. I switched
to
a 3/4" half-round scraper. It was tearing worse. Sharpened scraper. No
help.

So, I set the blank aside to season further. Tonight, I mounted the
blank
on the lathe again, sharpened my scraper and tried again. The bowl walls
were about 1/2" thick and the wood felt dry. More tearing. Sharpened
scraper again.

OK. I am taking light cuts. The scraper is razor sharp. The shavings
are
so light and feathery they just float to the floor, but I still cannot get
rid of the tearing of the end grain on the inside of the bowl. The
tearing
is too deep to sand out without going to 60 grit. Its better, but still
there! Am I still tearing, or is this damage I did to the wood while the
blank was still wet? Arrrrgggggh! Damn this hobby! Just when you think
you have something mastered, the wood humbles you again ! ! ! Help!
Barry
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Barry,
You need something to stabilize the end grain. There are several ways you
can go, but some clear lacquer is probably the quickest thing you can use.
Ca is also an alternative, but a bit more expensive for large areas. It's
like stabilizing spalted wood. Anything you use for that should work in the
area you're working on.

Ken Moon
Webberville, TX