Potato Chip Bowl
 

Got a wind fall of Eucalyptus couple of weeks ago, and promptly cut it
into bowl blanks and end sealed it. I turned a couple of roughs and end
sealed them inside and out. Got back from vacation and the bowls were
trying to turn into pretzels, with rim cracks of 1 inch depth.
Re rounded one and threw it into LDD overnight. Yesterday I tried to
finish it, but it started moving while sanding. Turned into a potato
chip instead of a pretzel.
This is real energetic wood. Have a picture posted on ABPW along with a
picture of a piece of bowl blank that I sawed off and end sealed on both
ends 2 weeks ago.
--
Gerald Ross
Cochran, GA

I'm not loafing. I work so fast I'm
always finished







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How do I find APBW to see this bowl?
Glenn Hodges
Nashville, GA

Ghodges2 wrote:

How do I find APBW to see this bowl?
Glenn Hodges
Nashville, GA
That's ABPW.=Alt.Binaries.Pictures.Woodworking

--
Gerald Ross
Cochran, GA

I'm not loafing. I work so fast I'm
always finished






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In article ,
Gerald Ross wrote:

This is real energetic wood. Have a picture posted on ABPW along with a
picture of a piece of bowl blank that I sawed off and end sealed on both
ends 2 weeks ago.

Well, considering that the grain is going in several directions (looks
like it could be a crotch piece) and there are two knots, it's not
totally surprising there's that much movement happening with this bowl -
in addition to whatever amount of shrinkage may be normal with
eucalyptus.

--
"To know the world intimately is the beginning of caring."
-- Ann Hayman Zwinger

My server finally updated abpw. Looks like you have a fine "art" piece
there. If the stuff's going to be squirrelly, make a virtue of it by
cutting thin while green and letting it go.

As to the end coating, it looks like you took the bark off, which is a no-no
if you're trying to keep the log. Also looks like you had a wind shake to
help the piece split. The mildew you see on that piece, which dried pretty
rapidly, is the reason I gave up on coatings almost immediately. That, and
the fact that my control pieces came out as well, and without mildew.
Unfortunately, I was turning some curly maple at the time, and the mildew
ruined the several test pieces.

Never having used eucalyptus, only suggestion I can offer is not to have
such vertical sides on your roughed bowls if you're looking to avoid rim
checks. If the sides slope in, they tend to relieve a bit by turning down.
Normal drying tension is caused by the faster-growing earlywood contracting
more than the latewood - dark part of the annual rings. That, and as you
can see in the coated piece, the fact that chemical and physical changes
have taken place in the heartwood, keeping it dryer, usually result in
radial checks from outside in in the log. In the bowl they pull down the
edges, often opening up the small radius rings near center.


"Gerald Ross" wrote in message
...
Got a wind fall of Eucalyptus couple of weeks ago, and promptly cut it
into bowl blanks and end sealed it. I turned a couple of roughs and end
sealed them inside and out. Got back from vacation and the bowls were
trying to turn into pretzels, with rim cracks of 1 inch depth.
Re rounded one and threw it into LDD overnight. Yesterday I tried to
finish it, but it started moving while sanding. Turned into a potato
chip instead of a pretzel.
This is real energetic wood. Have a picture posted on ABPW along with a
picture of a piece of bowl blank that I sawed off and end sealed on both
ends 2 weeks ago.

Gerald Ross wrote in :

Got a wind fall of Eucalyptus couple of weeks ago, and promptly cut it
into bowl blanks and end sealed it. I turned a couple of roughs and end
sealed them inside and out. Got back from vacation and the bowls were
trying to turn into pretzels, with rim cracks of 1 inch depth.
Re rounded one and threw it into LDD overnight. Yesterday I tried to
finish it, but it started moving while sanding. Turned into a potato
chip instead of a pretzel.
This is real energetic wood. Have a picture posted on ABPW along with a
picture of a piece of bowl blank that I sawed off and end sealed on both
ends 2 weeks ago.

There are many types of eucalyptus, or gum, trees. Some are well-suited
for lumber, others not. It's my understanding that gum trees were imported
into California for lumber, but oops!, they were of the not-good-for-lumber
variety, and also grow like weeds, hence their presence all over the dang
place. That variety grows so fast that it is very weak. My mom was almost
killed by a huge branch which fell just behind her car.

--
John Snow
"If I knew what I was doing, I wouldn't be here"

George wrote:
My server finally updated abpw. Looks like you have a fine "art" piece
there. If the stuff's going to be squirrelly, make a virtue of it by
cutting thin while green and letting it go.

As to the end coating, it looks like you took the bark off, which is a no-no
if you're trying to keep the log.

Only took the bark off to cut the circle for a bowl. Saved one end for
the piece you see. The Outer portion did not crack. It is also the part
which mildews easily. Higher sugar content? Lower tannin content?

The bowl continues to deform, looking more and more like a potato chip.
My wife likes it, but I have given up on leveling the bottom until it
completely dries.

Also looks like you had a wind shake to
help the piece split. The mildew you see on that piece, which dried pretty
rapidly, is the reason I gave up on coatings almost immediately. That, and
the fact that my control pieces came out as well, and without mildew.
Unfortunately, I was turning some curly maple at the time, and the mildew
ruined the several test pieces.

Never having used eucalyptus, only suggestion I can offer is not to have
such vertical sides on your roughed bowls if you're looking to avoid rim
checks. If the sides slope in, they tend to relieve a bit by turning down.
Normal drying tension is caused by the faster-growing earlywood contracting
more than the latewood - dark part of the annual rings. That, and as you
can see in the coated piece, the fact that chemical and physical changes
have taken place in the heartwood, keeping it dryer, usually result in
radial checks from outside in in the log. In the bowl they pull down the
edges, often opening up the small radius rings near center.


"Gerald Ross" wrote in message
...
Got a wind fall of Eucalyptus couple of weeks ago, and promptly cut it
into bowl blanks and end sealed it. I turned a couple of roughs and end
sealed them inside and out. Got back from vacation and the bowls were
trying to turn into pretzels, with rim cracks of 1 inch depth.
Re rounded one and threw it into LDD overnight. Yesterday I tried to
finish it, but it started moving while sanding. Turned into a potato
chip instead of a pretzel.
This is real energetic wood. Have a picture posted on ABPW along with a
picture of a piece of bowl blank that I sawed off and end sealed on both
ends 2 weeks ago.




--
Gerald Ross
Cochran, GA

I'm not loafing. I work so fast I'm
always finished






----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Uncensored-Secure Usenet News==----
http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 100,000 Newsgroups
---= East/West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =---

In article ,
Gerald Ross wrote:

Got back from vacation and the bowls were
trying to turn into pretzels, with rim cracks of 1 inch depth.
Re rounded one and threw it into LDD overnight. Yesterday I tried to
finish it, but it started moving while sanding. Turned into a potato
chip instead of a pretzel.

Looking at this bowl, it's not particularly surprising it has moved so
much as it appears the grain is going in multiple directions plus the
presence of two knots. I don't know the shrinkage characteristics of
straight grained, clear eucalyptus, but the "features" in your bowl
certainly don't help matters.

--
"To know the world intimately is the beginning of caring."
-- Ann Hayman Zwinger

Sure, sapwood has more moisture, and that's what encourages mildew. It's a
strange organism that can survive on what the air brings it, so I'm not sure
sugars make a difference. Note it's growing under and on wax. Sure makes
a mess of light woods.

Bark on is the way to keep the radial checks at bay. End checks are pretty
much self-limiting, so a lot of folks leave a whole log, lopping off a fresh
chunk to turn when they have time, versus taking chances on a bunch of
blocks.

Then there are those stupid enough to split firewood without looking, who
end up with badly fragmented pieces of heavily curled maple rather than big
beautiful bowl and platter pieces.

They are a step up from the ornaments I've been turning, though....

"Gerald Ross" wrote in message
...
George wrote:
My server finally updated abpw. Looks like you have a fine "art" piece
there. If the stuff's going to be squirrelly, make a virtue of it by
cutting thin while green and letting it go.

As to the end coating, it looks like you took the bark off, which is a
no-no
if you're trying to keep the log.

Only took the bark off to cut the circle for a bowl. Saved one end for
the piece you see. The Outer portion did not crack. It is also the part
which mildews easily. Higher sugar content? Lower tannin content?

The bowl continues to deform, looking more and more like a potato chip.
My wife likes it, but I have given up on leveling the bottom until it
completely dries.