Gift to a doner

You can turn a natural edge bowl while the wood is still green and the warping won't show, as it will already look oval when it's still round. Just leave enough height on the foot so you can return it after a week or two to true it up because it will bow a little at the bottom when drying. I turn green natural edge bowls all the time. If you turn it to 1/4" or less thickness it will be practically dry when you're done turning and you can finish it with Deft lacquer (cut about 50/50 with lacquer thinner) and buff it out the next day. Natural edge bowls are great for thank you gifts to the donor because it shows all the elements of the tree - heartwood, sapwood and bark. If you follow my suggestions you can return the bowl to them in a week's time. They'll be thrilled!

-Jim Gott- San Jose, CA

If you turn to the 10% rule to ensure you can get a round bowl, you should be able to turn final within six months. No need to "rig" anything. I set the fresh ones up in the air for a few hours until I see no more wet spots, then on some sort of support on the floor. If you don't have support, you can get some mildew from the concrete drawing moisture. After a month or less, when the thing starts to distort, bring it up high in the basement on a shelf.

Flame suit on - end grain dries at ~10 times the rate of face grain. There won't be a single point on a 10" bowl that is more than 2" from the end. If you go by the 1" per year folklore, that would be two years. Divide by 5 rather than ten for a big fudge factor, and you should be able to turn in six months. Weigh against an oven-dried block if you don't believe me.

Soft maple is a pleasure to turn, but watch the darker heartwood. It's often honeycombed already, and can crumble when dried.