PROCESS AND TECH TALK

Wood turning may involve gluing multiple pieces of wood together as in Segmenting, but most often I turn Timber; single chunks of wood. The process begins with salvaging fallen trees, chain sawing to manageable size, which may still be 100 lbs. or more. Then, mount the piece to the lathe and rough turn the bowl or hollow form. At this point, the piece is twice as thick and many times the weight of the final piece. Then comes the slow process of drying to avoid cracking which usually takes a year or more until equilibrium is reached. Finally, the piece is ready for finish turning. To be honest, the process leading up to finishing takes so long, I have usually forgotten what my original design intent was, and so begins the process of reevaluating the piece and designing it’s final form!