Looking at the other side I thought that the bark inclusion might be all the way through the piece which would make the hollow form unlikely to stay in one piece. I trimmed some of the bark away with a chain saw and found that I was mistaken. Things look good.
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Some time ago I had made up an acetate of circles by using a computer drawing program to draw a range of circles from about 1" to 8" and then printing it out on an overhead sheet. Here I lay it on the wood to check for grain flow, color, and clearance from cracks.
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I marked off the first cuts which would leave me with a piece without cracks. It still leaves room for a natural edge if desired.
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Having trimmed the ends with a chain saw, I decided that the shape did not lend itself to a natural edge form. Others may disagree.
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Looking at the end of the piece I consider the shape of the hollow form that is most reasonable from the wood.
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As it appears that a 7" diameter is about the maximum, I lay a template on the wood
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and draw around it.
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The circle is cut out on the band saw. I find that a drive center works bestter on solid wood than on bark, so I trim the blank with a chain saw to debark it.
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Following a roughing turn on the lathe I am able to examine the form for figure. This end has a bark inclusion plus a fair amount of the feather figure from the crotch.
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This end has only a little of the feather figure and no bark inclusion, so it will be the bottom and the other the top.
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Viewed from the side we can see that the shape is good but will need to come in a lot more at the bottom.
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I sanded the bottom flat, attached a glue block with hot glue, finish turned, hollowed and sanded. Here is the top before the finish goes on,
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and here is the bottom.
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The top with a coat of Minwax Tung Oil. I will leave it on the glue block for a few days for the convenience of finishing as I add another two coats of Tung Oil, sanding with 2000 grit between coats. The sanding is not necessary but seems to give a better final finish.
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