"Darrell Feltmate" wrote in message ...
Presestined to salad bowl or predestined to the fires of kindling? There is
a good sermon illustration here for a reformed Presbyterian.


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The problem with the Walnut is not bad karma! Every piece of wood
knows what it wants to be. All we have to do is to look and listen to
the wood and it will tell us.

I have not given up on a piece of spalted Hackberry. It came from a
downed tree on the golf course where I work. I thought it would be
nice to turn a hollow form, in the shape of a globe. I turned a tennon
on the wet wood and proceeded to make a globe. I was just about done
with the outside when the tennon blew off and the piece flew across
the room.

Ok--------it will be a little smaller globe! Next, I turned a
recessed flange on the bottom and fitted it to a Talon chuck. It held
well enough for me to get about half of the inside done. There was a
neat flaw that had spalted and looked great. While trying to finish
the inside, the side blew out. Now, no way the piece is going to be a
globe! It decided to be a small bowl! Finally that's what it will
be----------when I get enough guts to mount it again and finish
turning it. As an aside, the wet wood has dried and is
verrrrrrrrrrrrry hard!

I had a beautiful piece of Cherry and was going to turn a "falling
leaf" bowl. As I started to remove wood from the outside corners to
start developing the leaves, the points chipped off! Didn't want to be
that! So I decided to just cut two concave surfaces on the outside and
let it go at that. Lookin' great, but suddenly there are the start of
diamonds showing up at the center-line of the piece.

Turned out to be a great looking piece.

I know this is long, but I hope you understand. Wood and Nature
control what we do.

Thanks for reading.

The Other Bruce