Live Oak with a twist

I have often looked at the amazing grain structure of much of the Live Oak I cook with and wondered, "Why don't I see anyone turning this beautiful wood?" Now I know. It is a BEAR! Especially if you are undercutting or hollowing. The blue strip around the lower middle is my own Micarta inlay and the blue filling most of the cracks and voids is blue powder coat powder and epoxy. The funny shape of the opening is natural edge. I have more of this stuff to turn, but I'll be thinking twice about doing much beyond simple bowl forms. It was nearly impossible for me to get a smooth cut inside and I tried carbide and everything else I had.

Thanks for looking and as always, C&C welcome.

Looks nice from here. I haven't seen grain like that in this area.

Very cool. That is indeed some pretty wood.

I turned some California coast live oak, and I think out of six or seven pieces that I roughed out, only one survived the drying process enough to be worth finishing. The others cracked and warped so badly that I would have been lucky to end up with a coaster after starting with a 16" bowl. I ended up trading a truckload of it (cracked and dried by then) for a load of semi-green flame box elder. A buddy had acquired it and was planning to use it for firewood. I convinced him that box elder doesn't burn worth a darn, especially compared to the oak I had in the driveway.