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View Full Version : Soft Spots in Bowl Blank?



James Farrow
11-26-2004, 4:54 PM
Hi!

Well I finally got some dry wood (blanks, boards) from Curly Woods and
have started my second bowl (spalted big leaf maple).

I mounted the face plate with 4 screws. 2 went in fine but the other 2
felt like they went into a soft spot or something. The wouldn't really
tighten up. Anyway I mounted the bowl on the lathe and started turning.
Made a heck of a sound. I stopped it and noticed that the faceplate was
not flush (where the 2 kinda loose screws were) with the blank.
And the 2 screws could be turned and turned without tightening at all now.

So I removed the faceplate and mounted a different one where I could
have the screws in another place from the previous holes. And it screwed
in perfectly. All 4 screws are tight.

So, are there "soft spots" in wood sometimes?

Thanks,

James :)

Steve Inniss
11-26-2004, 6:45 PM
Occasionally, but it's usually obvious why. It happens a lot in spalted wood though. The wood fibres no longer have the strength to hold up against the screw threads.

James Farrow
11-26-2004, 8:20 PM
Thanks!

Well this is spalted wood so I guess that's the reason.

Learn something new every day.

James :)