Recently, I posted a "tree identification" request here, for a log that floated into my boathouse on Lake Burton (GA) recently. With feedback from replies, and with the additional clues revealed by turning some of the wood, I have decided that it is most likely maple. Watching an ambrosia beetle crawl out of one of the bowls I had turned (but not yet finished at that point) was sort of a clue! The wood shows a bit of ambrosia markings, around the beetle tunnels.
Here's the finished bowl, about 10" diameter by 3" high:
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The photo was taken while the epoxy finish was curing; the bowl was turning on what I call my 'epoxinator,' a 3 RPM spit motor that keeps the epoxy from running or sagging. The bark inclusion visible at the lower edge of the bowl was treated with CA glue to prevent the edge from cracking as it dried (before the epoxy was applied).
My epoxinator has 2 slow-speed spit motors, with PVC pipe spindles and HDPE face plates attached with PVC screw-on fittings on the spindle side, and screws on the wood side. So, I can cure 2 bowls or hollow-forms at a time. Epoxy finishing is a steep learning curve operation, with which I continue to struggle and learn.
Here's another turning from the same log, a plate, not yet dry enough to finish. The grain marking the branching of the trunk at this point is pretty nice.
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Robert