David Delo
06-08-2015, 2:49 PM
Maybe stuff like this doesn't happen to you........but I wake up today all excited and ready to go tackle this maple pile because I had some extra free time today. Wanted to get at least 3 good sized bowls from this blank that measured 14" x 6" once I got it all rounded off and flat. This is the 3rd blank from this batch of maple and it's got a few punky spots that I've been able to clean up to acceptable levels with a little walnut oil and a sharp 40/40 grind.
This blank was the same way but as I inspect everything before putting the coring tool on the lathe I discover a few cracks (see pics) and found a pith the entered the top and exited the side of the bowl near the top edge and top. After hemming & hawing & thinking about what I should do......decided to dig into the bowl down about 2 1/2" to see if I could get rid of it.
315308 315309 315310
Well it didn't look any better underneath than it did on the surface............so next decision point......what to do next? Decided to core out the inside and get at least 1 bowl out of this mess. It would be a 9.5" bowl maybe 3" deep. At this point...okay I'll take whatever I can get.
315311
I start coring and everything is going well and know I'm just about to a point where I can break away the core and I'm about 1/2 second away from withdrawing pressure............and the core pops out and falls to the floor and splits into 2 pieces!!!!!!!!!
315312
After a couple not pure thoughts..........back to the drawing board. The inside of the remaing bowl looked and felt solid and crack free so I faced off the rest of 2.5" from the top of the bowl and cleaned out the inside to uniform thickness. Ends up being 14" x almost 4" and just shy of 1.5" wall thickness. CA glued all the cracks and achorsealed it. It's stored away for now not to be seen again for awhile.
315313
I'm no expert at all this stuff and maybe I was being too cautious and could have just cored the thing from the start but just didn't feel comfortable cutting through suspect areas with a coring tool.
This blank was the same way but as I inspect everything before putting the coring tool on the lathe I discover a few cracks (see pics) and found a pith the entered the top and exited the side of the bowl near the top edge and top. After hemming & hawing & thinking about what I should do......decided to dig into the bowl down about 2 1/2" to see if I could get rid of it.
315308 315309 315310
Well it didn't look any better underneath than it did on the surface............so next decision point......what to do next? Decided to core out the inside and get at least 1 bowl out of this mess. It would be a 9.5" bowl maybe 3" deep. At this point...okay I'll take whatever I can get.
315311
I start coring and everything is going well and know I'm just about to a point where I can break away the core and I'm about 1/2 second away from withdrawing pressure............and the core pops out and falls to the floor and splits into 2 pieces!!!!!!!!!
315312
After a couple not pure thoughts..........back to the drawing board. The inside of the remaing bowl looked and felt solid and crack free so I faced off the rest of 2.5" from the top of the bowl and cleaned out the inside to uniform thickness. Ends up being 14" x almost 4" and just shy of 1.5" wall thickness. CA glued all the cracks and achorsealed it. It's stored away for now not to be seen again for awhile.
315313
I'm no expert at all this stuff and maybe I was being too cautious and could have just cored the thing from the start but just didn't feel comfortable cutting through suspect areas with a coring tool.