Maybe the following link can help you identify what was missing from your
effort. Andy has an entire section of his site devoted to his process and
techniques, and the finished lamps are inspirational enough to warrant a
visit by themselves.

http://www.lampmaker.net/

Michael Latcha - at home in Redford, MI


"Prometheus" wrote in message
...
Hello all,

This evening, I had the basically sound idea that I should turn a
lamp... I went out and got the hardware and decided that the plank of
bird's eye maple I had down in the shop would look great as a lamp
base.
snip
I doubt I'm going to save this piece unless I just fill it with wood
putty and paint it, but I was wondering if any of you folks have had
similar problems, and what my best options for avoiding this in the
future may be...