Heartwood
 

Hi i'm new to turning and have looked around the internet on cutting logs and mounting on face plate etc for bowl turning.
All of the sites have shown the cuts have been all round the center of the log issolating the center or heartwood.
Please can some one tell me why this is? Is it to soft
TIA
Mark

Heartwood
 

Sniperborg wrote:
Hi i'm new to turning and have looked around the internet on cutting
logs and mounting on face plate etc for bowl turning.
All of the sites have shown the cuts have been all round the center of
the log issolating the center or heartwood.
Please can some one tell me why this is? Is it to soft

Because the pith is the area where splits will start. If you try to dry
a piece of wood that includes the pith it will almost certainly split.

I say pith, because it is not necessarily the geometric center of the log.

All other things being equal, a piece of wood cut from far away from the
pith is less likely to split than one cut near it.

--
Derek Andrews, woodturner

http://www.seafoamwoodturning.com
http://chipshop.blogspot.com - a blog for my customers
http://www.seafoamwoodturning.com/TheToolrest/ - a blog for woodturners