re: Russian Olive Bowl (#53)

Thanks, gang! It’s pretty wood, but a real pain in the butt. Tons of checks from drying too fast (I was sick, so I didn’t get the ends painted as well as I should have) and it’s brittle enough that tools that aren’t razor sharp will cause tearout and chipping. I’m having better luck with freshly sharpened HSS than I am with carbide, but the carbide hollower gets me most of the way there for the inside.

I’m currently processing some logs into boards, too. I did a 7” diameter log 2’ long yesterday. Turned it into a dozen 3” wide by 1/2 inch thick boards that are mostly quartersawn. Got them stacked and stickered and waiting for them to finish drying out so I can know if I have to build a mold for epoxy-filling the cracks in them or not. I’d say about half of the boards will need some intervention if there’s no further cracking.

I’m doing most of my resawing on the table saw. Thinking I might need to buy the “laser kerf” 1/16” thick blade from infinity to cut down on the waste (and power draw that trips the breaker a couple times per board) as I’m ripping a slice off a 3” thick slab.