I appreciate all the nice comments. As for keeping the bark on, I probably just got lucky. I've had this persimmon since Sept. of last year and it's my understanding that winter cut wood stands a better chance of holding the bark. I did the thin CA soak, and I'm sure that helped a bunch, but luck surely played a big part. The bark on persimmon is so knarly, like 1 to 1-1/2" thick, I thought it would be interesting to see if I could pull off a natural edge piece. And Vaughn, to answer your question on how it is to turn...I'd say great. I love this stuff. This was still green and cut like butter. Dry would no doubt be a different story. From what I understand, persimmon is the only American ebony, also called White Ebony.