Just a word on spalted wood and lathe speed to new turners such as myself.
Turn the wood at a slow speed. This includes shaping and sanding and finishing.
Now the story,,, yesterday I was turning a spalted piece of wood and just finished the shaping process. This was my best looking bowl to date. I wanted the sanding to be just right and acheive as smooth a surface as possible so I started to sand at a low speed on the lathe. I wasn't getting what I was looking for in the surface so I sped up the lathe to a middle speed. Still not the smooth surface I was looking for. So I sped up the lathe to all out warp drive. And this is where it happened, (experienced woodturners know where this is going) the speed of the lathe and the fact that spalted wood does not have the fibers that good wood does. The bowl blew apart in many different directions. In fact I'm still finding glass out in the driveway twelve feet away from where part of the bowl blew out through a window in the shop. And for those that have never heard a bowl blow, yes it does make a sound that reminds you of a gun being shot. Luckily I was standing to the side of the bowl when it came apart, otherwise I truely believe I would not be sitting here now doing this type up. Spalted wood and speed do not mix. I know what spalted wood is and I guess I had a real brain fade or I just wasn't thinking right, or I was in just too big a hurry. No matter how I try to break it down, I did a studip thing and learned a real good lesson.
I hope others that have not used spalted wood or is new to this hobby, reads this and gets a little wiser from my lack of thinking.
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