Advice on bowl

[Wells Jacobson]

This is my first foray outside of basic utility bowls. My daughter gave me a piece of Tasmanian sassafras for Christmas and I approached it slowly and stayed out of the firing line. This is the result so far. Outside fairly well sanded and inside to 80 grit. Loose bark inclusions have been removed but some inclusions with a bit of softness and a few small areas of mildly pinky wood remain. I'm searching for ideas as to how to finish this. Leave the holes or make more by pulling out more bark or punk or fill artistically (with what and how)? I was wondering about a drench in shellac to firm up fibers and sand again and was also wondering about drench in CA to firm up the punk and stabilize the remaining inclusions but worry about discoloration and eventual finish.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Jake

[Richard Coers]

I'd say you are very lucky to even have a bowl at this point. That bark line goes quite a ways around that bowl! I would pick out the remaining bark, finish sand it, and give it some coats of low gloss oil. Drenching isn't going to fill up much of those gaping holes. Be sure to wrap that up in plastic wrap and maybe duct tape to re turn and get the foot off. Looks to me like that thing is close to blowing up!

[Lee Koepke]

Awesome! I like that look. It's a bit hairy at this point and advise above was good. I tape mine when I turn the foot off.
You can use CA at the bark areas, ESP if it's loose. Shellac may help w sanding but I'd try without first

[Dennis Ford]

The holes look fine; remove any loose bark and expose more holes! Richard's advise is right on target.

[charlie knighton]

all of the above

[Dirk Hoogendoorn]

I really like the look of the bowl as it is, it has a really nice organic look. If you are looking to do a little more touchup I would wind the bowl where it has the voids with electrical tape and I would not fill the voids, this looks great.

[David Reed]

Definitely leave the holes, looks great and I think filling big ones looks pretty cheesy generally, unless you want the look of metal flakes or turquoise. If the punky sections are soft enough you can't sand smooth, I have used Minwax Wood Hardener several times with excellent results. Some will say you need to use pressure or vacuum systems and this doesn't penetrate but it penetrates quite deeply, depending on how soft the deteriorated wood is. A few soaking coats of the Minwax has produced excellent results for me. I haven't noticed any darkening or other color change in the finished product, leaving all the character of the spalting intact.

[Wells Jacobson]

Thanks for the valuable input. I will try the minwax wood hardener and wrap before working on the bottom. I sanded a lot because I worked at such a low speed while turning but I appreciate the admonition re safety.

[Curt Fuller]

It's a slow process, a week or so of soaking and another week or more of drying, but this stuff works pretty well for what you're up against.
http://www.preservation-solutions.com/product/polycryl/

[Bruce Pratt]

If you use CA (I recommend medium viscosity) to stabilize the remaining bark, be careful not to get it onto the wood, as it will interfere with the penetration of your finish and show up as lighter or darker than adjacent wood. As to the punky sections, I have found that one or two applications of 1 lb cut shellac does a good job of stabilizing the surface fibers for sanding, and does not interfere with the application of finish coats