I roughed out this piece of hickory today, to make into a hollow-form (vase). I mounted it with the tree's centerline transverse to the lathe spindle, so the heartwood shows up on opposite sides of the vase.
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The wood is a couple of years old, and has mostly been sitting outside my shop, gaining "character." It is highly spalted, bug-eaten, soft on the outside inch or two but still mostly firm on the inside. There are some bark inclusions, which contain some pockets of punky wood. I want to keep this rustic look, but I don't want the thing coming apart as it gets hollowed out.
I'm considering making up some epoxy-coffee grounds mixture, and filling these larger holes, before doing the hollowing. My hope is that this will hold the bark inclusions together. What do you think of that idea, and if you have a better one, please share.
Thanks.