Any other tree, and this would have been firewood

[Roger Chandler]

I have worked on this extremely punky piece of the Stonewall Jackson Prayer tree. This was a piece that had a little burl grain, and a lot of character, but wow, was this ever a pain...........fibers came out with the touch of a finger, must less a bowl gouge!

I stabilized the wood with CA, shellac, and anything else I could to keep the wood fibers in place, but even with very sharp tools, very light passes, and shear cutting, the wood still wanted to tear out..........I managed to keep it to a minimum, but it is not perfect.............any other tree but this historic white oak would have gone to the firewood pile!

I have spent over a month on this including the DNA soak and drying time..........the wood is stable now and I expect this one to remain stable from here on out. Bowl is 8.25 inches in diameter, and 3.25 tall. Hopefully going to the lady who donated the wood for the preservation.......or one of her family.206565206566206567206568206569

As you can see, the bottom foot is also cracked..........I stabilized with generous amounts of CA glue and the finish is about 4 coats of antique oil........dried and 4 coats of WOP.

[charlie knighton]

are we having fun yet???????????????

[Roger Chandler]

are we having fun yet???????????????

Just trying to be a good steward of this historic wood........even though I have been told numerous times that "life is too short to turn bad wood!" This one was barely salvageable...........now that it is over, I am glad I did save it.........hope I don't have to do it again!

[David E Keller]

Nice save, Roger, but I think old Stonewall would have burned that piece of wood even if he was an avid turner. FWIW, I used Wally Dickerman's 50/50 white glue and water soak on a rough out of really spalted maple... It did the job, but I've got a few more chunks of that stuff that I'm not ready to turn any time soon.

[Michelle Rich]

pretty wood, and glad you conquered it.

[Betty Fox]

Excellent job Chandler. I thought I knew patience, then I started turning wood. :)
Betty

[Chris Burgess]

Roger, that is a great looking bowl. I an sure she will be delighted when it is recieved. Nice job and way to push through and show the wood who is master of the Lathe.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Roger that is a great looking bowl. Sometimes it just takes a lot of patience and not look at the firewood pile to long. Glad you were able to get thru it. Roger you did well in preserving some history.