Green Cherry bowl blanks

[Jeff Myers]

Hi everyone,
I recently came into a bit of Cherry when my folks needed to cut down
a small one to improve their view of the water at their beach home.
The diameter of the tree at the base is only 8" - 10".
My question is if I want to cut some sections for bowls, do i just split
them down the center(pith) in halves or should I actually cut a slab out
of the center, say 1" thick to remove the pith and most of the heartwood
to avoid checking? I'm just trying to see what you all do since i'd like as thick a piece of wood to work with as possible and since these sections aren't that big in diameter, i'm really cutting into my pieces removing a slab from the center and there's not that much wood available really.

[Jim Becker]

For those smaller log sections, splitting it down the pith is going to give you the largest "halves" for turning bowls. This is also a good size for end-grain turning of hollow vessels and you can leave the pith in for that if you turn to even thickness.

[Jeff Myers]

Thanks Jim,
..and for end-grain turning of those sections, would you use a screw chuck mount over a face plate for more holding power?

[Raymond Overman]

For bowl blanks that small I'd leave the pith in after cutting the log down the pith. I'd turn it out of the bowl once it's on the lathe.

[Andy Hoyt]

Thanks Jim,
..and for end-grain turning of those sections, would you use a screw chuck mount over a face plate for more holding power?
I'd use a scroll chuck over a face plate. Screws in end grain don't seem to have much holding power even though I've done it in a pinch. The chuck is safer, too, especially if you're also using a bowl steady arrangement on a tallish piece.

[Henry C. Gernhardt, III]

Jeff, FWIW I believe my dunno wood is some sort of cherry. I turned endgrain on a faceplate and had to use 1.5" screws to hold it in place. A lot of wasted wood there. I went the chuck route and had a lot less waste, and a great deal more security. Endgrain just doesn't seem to respect wood screws.

Good luck!