01-22-2019, 04:10 PM
I bought a lathe about 10 years ago and started spindle turning for practice. After very little practice, my first "project" was 40 spindles for a swinging baby cradle. I averaged about a spindle per hour, with the last ones bringing my average down considerably. It took more time to turn the spindles than it did to build the cradle. For the next cradle I thought, "slats look nearly as good as spindles." I decided to turn some hollow forms. My first bowl was actually a spindle with a drill hole down the middle to form a vase. Next was a small bowl about 4" in diameter and 4" tall. Success!! I had seen some of the natural edge bowls posted on Woodnet and thought I would make that my third bowl. I had a section of Bois d'arc that was very aged and dry. Long story short, a natural edge bowl of misshapen, extremely hard wood should not be one's third bowl project. I repaired a rather large hole in the sheetrock in my shop. Scared me. Back to spindles, mainly Christmas ornaments. I retired from work about a year ago and decided to bring my lathe faceplate out of retirement and finally worked up to another natural edge bowl. This one was an oak tree crotch that was wet and not very large. So far, SUCCESS.
Question 1: My wife likes the bark edge. Is it OK to leave the bark on the edge, and if so, do you treat it in some way?
Question 2: I'm drying it in the microwave. It started out at 268 grams and it currently weighs 206 grams, about a 25% loss. The first 4 minute cycle in the microwave set on power level 2/10 saw a loss of 13 grams. Currently, a 4 minute cycle will see a decrease of 1 1/2 grams. The tree was bulldozed down less than a week ago so it should be close to maximum water content. Where should I stop drying percentage wise?
Question 1: My wife likes the bark edge. Is it OK to leave the bark on the edge, and if so, do you treat it in some way?
Question 2: I'm drying it in the microwave. It started out at 268 grams and it currently weighs 206 grams, about a 25% loss. The first 4 minute cycle in the microwave set on power level 2/10 saw a loss of 13 grams. Currently, a 4 minute cycle will see a decrease of 1 1/2 grams. The tree was bulldozed down less than a week ago so it should be close to maximum water content. Where should I stop drying percentage wise?