Wet Cherry

Chas Jones

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Cotswolds, UK
An exercise in faith and fingers crossed, a bit of Cherry from some local trees felled last sunday, not exactly the ideal time of the year so decided to see what happens with a few bits of it whilst fresh rather than fume over the inevitable splits that will ensue over the next couple of years or so whilst I try and dry it.
Nothing special in form (6-3/8 x 5-3/8), soaked in Lemon Oil to slow the drying, a bit special in as much as it's the 1000th. entry in the Bits and Pieces gallery.
 

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Thanks for the welcome back folks, afraid it's been a busy start to the year with a large order (900+ pieces) on the metal turning front which has limited my wood lathe time along with some major yard work in the vegetable plot and flower border stakes.

The latter brought on by the better half taking advantage of me being off my feet for a month with trapped spinal/leg nerve. She removed several trees from the plot that has brought about the need for a whole lot of replanting etc. not to mention the clear up of the debris.

Is it the lemon oil that got it looking so yellow?

I think that's more down to the amount of water still in it, we'll see what happens as it dries out.

.. How did you finish it?

Basically just sanded to 240 and slapped on some Lemon Oil confuse and slow down the moisture loss.

. Did it have the nice Cherry smell when you turned it?

Unfortunately it does not have a pronounced aroma that I get from my stock of dry Cherry, don't know if that's because it's so wet or the particular species. Hence my use of the Lemon Oil, would have been reluctant to use it if the 'Cherry' had been pronounced.

......Looks to me like you following in the footsteps of the birthday boy with that nice bowl.

Any that come out of this hoard are going to be rather bland in comparison I'm afraid, although the heavily crotched pieces I have may prove more interesting. No chance of ever keeping the bark on though far too much new growth at this time of year.
 
Thanks for the extra comments Cynthia et al. Looks like I will get away with turning this stuff green as long as the form accepts the shrinkage, certainly no round bowls likely.
The piece has dried fairly rapidly and taken on a curl, due to the shape it's not obvious from a distance but the base spigot/foot now has a curvature of nearly 1/4", had thought of flattening it but the piece sits upright and has a novel rocking action if touched which I think the donor of the trees will find amusing so I'll let it stand.
 
Chas,
That's a cool bowl.... I never have any luck with the natural edge... I haven't figured out what I do wrong or what I'm doing period.... the bark just seems to always fly off when I try them, so most of the time I don't..... I do admire them for those who can get them right...
 
No chance of keeping the bark on this wood either Chuck, trees felled in full growth so new under bark growth just won't adhere well enough and is too wet to cheat and bond with CA.

Winter felled wood that has dried out somewhat is a better bet, any suspicions of it letting go can be secured with CA as you go, in fact I have spliced in 'repairs' that way that were indistinguishable when finished due to the rustic nature of the bark.
 
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