California Punk

[Kathy Marshall]

This was turned from a chunk of California Pepper that I got from fellow club member, Jason Clark, back in October I think. Jason had turned some cool pieces from it, microwaving some to get warping similar to madrone. Apparently this wood spalts easily and you could see the results in his pieces by the order that they were turned.
I had some other projects going, and trying to get some Christmas gifts turned, so I couldn't get to it right away. Then the lathe went down, so I was further delayed. I finally got it on the lathe about 2 weeks ago.
It definitely had been spalting, a little too much in fact. It had turned very punky, in fact when I drilled out the center, I was able to punch through from the outside where the void is just by sticking my finger through it. Tear out was reallyyyyyyy bad. I roughed (and I mean roughed) out the outside, then drilled the center and took out some of the bulk, then I put it in my bucket of soap mixture to see if it would help stabilize it at all. The plan was just to leave it overnight, but I got caught up in some other projects and kind of forgot about it :eek:. This weekend at the symposium it hit me that it was still soaking. So Monday night I took it out of the bucket and washed it off, then set it aside to dry. Tuesday night I started turning it. It was still punky and tearout was still a big problem, but it was improved from before.
This is what it looked like after the soap and water soak. I think you can see the difference in cuts by the little stip at the bottom as compared to the rest that I hadn't touched yet.
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After a lot of scraping and shear cutting, I ended up with an almost acceptable surface. There were a few really stubborn spots that just wouldn't clean up. I didn't go real thin on this one, just to about 1/4" or just a touch under.
Lots of sanding later and after some DO and antique oil, this is what I was left with. It's 6 1/2" tall x 6 wide. It's a shame that I couldn't get to it sooner, because it's got some great color and grain and it would have looked so much better if it had had good solid wood all the way around.
Sorry for the out of focus on the last pic, didn't notice it until I had taken down the photo tent.
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Thanks for looking!
Comments and critiques welcome.

[Steve bellinger]

Kathy glad ya got a chance to save that, as it's a really sweet looking piece. Sounds like a lot of extra work but well worth it from here.

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

Kathy,
I would probably have scrapped that piece. I'm happy you stuck with it. It is an unusual wood and quite pretty. Good shape on the HF.
faust

[Steve Doerr]

Kathy,
You did a great job for having such punky wood. I love the figuring in it and the shape of the HF is wonderful. As you said, there are some spots that you just couldn't get rid of the tear out. On some of the wood that I have turned that has had that problem I have used a drizzled some thin CA on those spots to firm it up. It has worked pretty well for me. You might want to give it a try sometime and see what you think.
Happy turning,
Steve

[Chip Sutherland]

I've never heard of California Pepper wood. Nice looking wood and spalting. Nice form. Thanks for sharing how you dealt with the punky wood. I have never used soapy-soak for stabilizing punky wood. Hope I remember for next time.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Great looking wood and HF. I have put shellac on and then did a shear scrape on some bad tear out. Really turned out nice.

[Harry Robinette]

You can also try putting the finish your going to use on that area,then take a couple fine cuts.The finish works like a lube for the fibers like shaving cream I find it works very well for me. Make the cuts while the finish is still wet do not let it dry.

[robert baccus]

Good save on a purty piece. Seems the best spalt is always the softest. I find it not very satisfactory to use thin CA on a piece that large but I do have good luck with thinned laq. if not too soft. On that spalt I use acetone thinned epoxy soaked in overnite. Turns great like fine wood without the brittle crust that CA tends to. Great shape too.

[Kathy Marshall]

Thanks for the comments everyone!

[Nate Davey]

Looks like you caught that piece of wood in the nick of time. Beautiful wood and the form is perfect, Kathy!

[Ray Bell]

Very nice Kathy, tell me about the soapy water stabilizing. Just water4 and dish soap, how long do you soak it?

[Kathy Marshall]

Very nice Kathy, tell me about the soapy water stabilizing. Just water4 and dish soap, how long do you soak it?
Thanks Ray.
When I said I used the soap mixture to stabilize the piece, I probably should have used a different term. It doesn't so much stiffen the fibers as it acts more like a lubricant to help the wood cut cleaner. Depending on the wood and the length of soak, it can absorb deeply into the wood. It can also help to prevent or lessen cracking and reduce movement. I've had good luck with the pieces I've used it on and soak times have varied from 24 hours to more than a week.
I first learned about this technique on Ron Kent's site http://www.ronkent.com/techniques.php
And here's a link to a thread on a salad bowl set I used the technique on.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?188942-Soap-experiment-Salad-Bowl-set&highlight=soap

[Ray Bell]

Thank you for the links Kathy, I have been away too long and missed these.