Black Walnut Bowl Blank/Predestination ? ? ?

Does anyone in the NG believe in predestination as it relates to wood? Have you ever considered that some bowl blanks may be predestined to be firewood while others may be headed for galleries?

You see, I have this nice Black Walnut bowl blank which I thought was certain to become a nice walnut bowl and end up in a gallery or at least a craft shop. Well, its seems I don't know much about predestination, for it seems in spite of my best efforts this Black Walnut blank is hurtling through time and space towards someone's fireplace.

Last week, I posted about problems I was having getting a smooth cut on the outside. Tonight, I was hollowing the inside and got a catch. The 2" foot ripped right off the bowl and it went sailing across the shop. I glued the foot back on and will try yet again to help this bowl reach its gallery/craft shop. Or, should I just fast-forward a few hours, accept fate and toss it back into the firewood pile from which it came?

After all, who am I to tamper with destiny?

Barry

Reply to
Barry N. Turner
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I had a wonderful maple/pau ferro vase that I was working on (man, does Pau Ferro look good!), but no matter how much effort I put into it, one thing after another kept going wrong. And I mean *wrong*. Finally, I just threw it all away, feeling like a complete failure.

On the other hand, I bought a large block of blackheart sassafras to make a wedding gift for a close friend. When I bought it, I had the bowl I wanted to make exactly planned out. I got it home, and every time I was about to mount it, I just couldn't do it - I had to take another look at it. Finally, I decided to just flip it over and mount it the other way. Once I had, I looked closely at the spalting that makes blackheart sassafrass so beautiful, and realized that if I shaped the bowl within a very close tolerance, I could get the edges of the bowl to come in and out of the spalting several times on both sidesfor a very striking effect.. The bowl ended up being the most beautiful piece that I've ever turned.

steve

Reply to
Steve Wolfe

====>Barry! I am afraid that you are confusing destiny with karma. Apparently this Black Walnut was very naughty in its previous life and is now suffering from those actions. As to its destiny, that is yet to be seen and can only be speculated upon. Your projection may very well be right, but its faith could still be altered with the proper application of LDD. No guaranties here, just a suggestion to put the walnut back on the path of enlightenment and possible eventual liberation into the Nirvana of a beautiful bowl. *G*

Leif

P. S. Just finished re-glazing a window behind my lathe for the second time due to karmic actions resulting from apparent good wood behaving badly. I think I have resolved the issue by using plexiglass, and will be putting hardware screen on spacers in front of the window. Knowing that the Law of Unintended Consequences is continually in action, it will probably result in the next airborn chunk hitting the hardware cloth screen and bouncing right back at me! *G*

Reply to
Leif Thorvaldson

Some days bring success, others simply suck cess.

I find myself getting angry at a piece that isn't cooperating, and taking "make or break" cuts occasionally.

Reply to
George

Presestined to salad bowl or predestined to the fires of kindling? There is a good sermon illustration here for a reformed Presbyterian.

Reply to
Darrell Feltmate

Let me know, I would like to see a copy

James

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Darrell Feltmate wrote:

Reply to
James

Barry

Life is too short to turn onery wood!

Ray

Reply to
Ray Sandusky

Please post it as an OT. Take that Vito. It's an interesting allegory.

Dave in Fairfax

Reply to
dave in Fairfax

================================================================== The problem with the Walnut is not bad karma! Every piece of wood knows what it wants to be. All we have to do is to look and listen to the wood and it will tell us.

I have not given up on a piece of spalted Hackberry. It came from a downed tree on the golf course where I work. I thought it would be nice to turn a hollow form, in the shape of a globe. I turned a tennon on the wet wood and proceeded to make a globe. I was just about done with the outside when the tennon blew off and the piece flew across the room.

Ok--------it will be a little smaller globe! Next, I turned a recessed flange on the bottom and fitted it to a Talon chuck. It held well enough for me to get about half of the inside done. There was a neat flaw that had spalted and looked great. While trying to finish the inside, the side blew out. Now, no way the piece is going to be a globe! It decided to be a small bowl! Finally that's what it will be----------when I get enough guts to mount it again and finish turning it. As an aside, the wet wood has dried and is verrrrrrrrrrrrry hard!

I had a beautiful piece of Cherry and was going to turn a "falling leaf" bowl. As I started to remove wood from the outside corners to start developing the leaves, the points chipped off! Didn't want to be that! So I decided to just cut two concave surfaces on the outside and let it go at that. Lookin' great, but suddenly there are the start of diamonds showing up at the center-line of the piece.

Turned out to be a great looking piece.

I know this is long, but I hope you understand. Wood and Nature control what we do.

Thanks for reading.

The Other Bruce

Reply to
Bruce

============================ Darrell, What does a Presbyterian do that they have to reform from??

Ken Moon Webberville, TX

Reply to
Ken Moon

I had/have two beautiful English walbut blanks, about 6" on a side, that I wanted to turn into semi-enclaosed vessels. Turned one wet, the other a year latr.

Both got massive chunks blown off the outside, and both broke off their tenons in my chuck. Never had such bad luck with anything else, from maple to boxwood, ebony to alder.

My sympathies!

-- Andy Barss

Reply to
Andrew Barss

I had a beeee-yoo-tiful peace of gum vein eucalyptus, and turned an incredible bowl out of it. I decided it was done, and started to put down the chisel. Then I thought "No, I'm going to take just one last light pass over the inside of it." And when I say light, I mean *light*. Still, the second the chisel touched it, boom, pieces all over the garage.

I got the pieces and reassembled them, and with all of the gum veins, there were only a few tiny sections holding half of the bowl together. I'm amazed it could even stand the g-forces of spinning on the lathe, let alone me having carved most of it away in the first place.

steve

Reply to
Steve Wolfe

Thanks........sympathy does help! Barry

lubrication,

Reply to
Barry N. Turner

I agree.............Now...............After spending several hours turning on this piece of ornery wood. You know I think my problem was the chuck. I started with the Supernova chuck, but turned the foot too small and had to use the Nova Compac chuck. I didn't have a firm grip on the foot and the blank was moving slightly when I tried to make a cut. I reversed the blank and brought the tailstock up and it is doing much better.

Barry

Reply to
Barry N. Turner

Like I always say Darrell, "Turn or Burn!"

...Kevin

Reply to
Kevin & Theresa Miller

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