[OP]
Member
Had a bad day! Had a piece of river birch sitting on the ground with fertilizer on top and below it for three months and it had spalted beautifully. Turned it and thought it would be a winner if it was just a little bit thinner. I blew it. Such is woodturning. Next one will be better.
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I fish, therefore I am. I woodturn when I can't fish.
Member
Hate when that happens! Beautiful piece of wood though. Is there any way to turn that bottom off and glue another contrasting piece onto it and re-turning? Make it sort of look like it was made to sit on a base? Hope you can save it!
Member
looks great from the side! Perhaps a natural edge bottom?It happens to all of us and we learn from our mistakes and move on.
Last edited by Greg Just; 09-03-2013 at 10:40 PM. Reason: typo
Member
Nice lampshade.
Veni Vidi Vendi Vente! I came, I saw, I bought a large coffee!
Member
Believe I would try turning it up side down. I think it is salvageable. Beautiful piece of wood.
Fred
Member
I agree, time for some glue up to save it. Call it a design mod. Walnut pedestal possibly?
Member
put it in corner, just a reminder
Member
eeek! it can be repaired..return it and put in a plug or another base. the HF & wood are too lovely to throw away.
Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit the ground each morning, the devil says, "oh crap she's up!"
Tolerance is giving every other human being every right that you claim for yourself.
"What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts are gone, men would die from great loneliness of spirit. For whatever happens to the beasts will happen to man. All things are connected. " Chief Seattle Duwamish Tribe
Contributor
Bill, first of all, sorry but it's only wood. It just happened to be a freaking gorgeous piece of beautifully spalted wood that you had high hopes for but.......... I am curious how this happened. It looks like you may have been removing the tenon when you went through. You didn't tell us any details.
faust
Member
It is really a shame that this happened. The wood is wonderful! I would do what ever you can to salvage the wood in one way or another even if you end up making jewelry out of it (which would look stunning if you can visualize it). You know the recipe for more, so I am looking forward to the next one.
Member
Plug the bottom, return it and love it.. It's still beautiful.
Member
Ouch! I still have a maple burl hollow form with a similar problem sitting under my bench. Guess I haven't been able to move on. If you come up with a great save for yours, please post a picture!
[OP]
Member
Had no intention of attempting to recover this piece, but after these comments I feel shamed into doing it. Looking forward to the challenge now.
I am curious how this happened. It looks like you may have been removing the tenon when you went through. You didn't tell us any details.
faust
Had turned it to about 1/2" thick and decided to reshape the bottom from the outside. That left the inside near the bottom at about 1/4" and possibly 1/8" in one spot. Then started at the inside top using final light cuts to get it to about 3/8" to 1/4" overall. The wood was punky and soft in spots and just gave way right at the bottom.
I fish, therefore I am. I woodturn when I can't fish.
Contributor
Bill, I do a lot of spalted(punky) maple but I stabilize it before I get to finish wall thickness. I will rough turn it to about 1/2" wall thickness then stabilize it with Cactus Juice. Check out some of the videos at the linked website. You do need some specialized equipment to stabilize but for me it is worth it.
____________________________________________
JD at J&J WoodSmithing
Owingsville, Kentucky
"The best things in life are not things."
Member
Bill, I am in agreement with the others, Too nice to toss. I am curious about the spalting process though. Was this wood still wet when you started, and what fertilizer did you use? Thanks
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