A bit of firewood

[woodfarmer]

Here in France pollarding is still in vogue. the 3 meter stems of oak or ash get a haircut whenm the stems are about 6-8 inches in diameter. After centuries of this the top of the 3 metre trunk develops a dome from whence the new stems emerge. This is known as the "tete" in France in English that would be head. One such trunk eventually died and in te course of time rotted away and fell over. and it was brought up from the fields to be cut for firewood. The centre was completely rotted away. Only the outside of the stem and the tete were even good enough to burn. Cutting the tete into five inch slabs I saw that some of the wood was still intact although surrounded by rot. By judicious chainsawing I eventually got a piece out, Much of it was very soft but it seemed to me it had possibilities. bandsawed a circle and started cutting. Ordered £20 worth of CA. used about half of it (60grams) on the outside. Good stuff as it soaks into the rot and makes it stronger. Then cut out the inside and used the rest of the CA. It took three weeks and sometimes I wondered whether instead of buying CA I would have done better to have bought a bowl blank elsewhere.
Any way here are pictures of the slab and it offspring. Please judge the wood, not the turning.

A beautiful piece of wood

and now its offspring..

After my mishap with a horse chestnut bowl exploding I now hold bowls in the chuck in compression using a recessed tenon instead of expanding into a mortice.

 

[Droogs]

mon dieu, monsewer tre bon - ah my french is carp
But that bowl is stunning, what a superb bit of wood that turned into

 

[Castanea]

That's lovely wood isn't it. £20 is a lot to spend on CA but then there's nothing to beat taking a bit of wood from tree to product. There's so much more satisfaction to it than spending money on a blank, especially when you've managed to save an interesting old piece of wood which would have ended up on the fire otherwise. I admire your tenacity - I'd probably have bunged it on the lathe, slapped my chainsaw helmet on just in case and let it take its chances so it would probably have ended up in the woodbasket anyway

 

[woodfarmer]

Thanks guys. I have come to realise my style of turning is a bit like Marmite. You either love it or hate it. For me a thing has to function properly, So any bit of something with a dip in the middle that does not fall over is a bowl. After that it is personal choice and preferences. I like chunky, as to me wood is very tactile and its feels good when something has a bit of substance. I like rustic and natural forms. Others like a more refined machined look. I appreciate the skill it takes to produce such work but it isn't my thing. I did try to follow the fashion once and made a thin bowl along Japanese lines.. It felt flimsy as if it was a plastic dish from a six pack from poundshop. I have a relation who dislikes figuring and visible grain in wood and have seriously looked at turning something from plastic for her. I use Acetal to make parts, it finishes extremely well really glass like shiny. I doubt looking at a bowl made from it would give me any real pleasure.

 

[gregmcateer]

tres jolie, Monsieur

 

[Dalboy]

There is nothing wrong with the chunkie look. You have done a good job and the grain is fantastic. I think you need to take the chucking point on this one it spoils the look of the bottom