Rotten Oak

[ChrisF]

This was a nasty piece of smelly rotten oak languishing at the bottom of a pile in the garden.  It's taken a while to get it to this stage what with having to let it dry in between turnings.  the top edge was very flaky so I brushed out the rubbish with a wire brush....personally I quite like the effect but then I did it...so I would like it ;-)

Ended up having to hand sand it due to it going quite a way out of round and not wanting to risk putting it back on the lathe (that big crack is quite loose now it's mostly dry).

Overall I'm quite pleased and I certainly like it but I like pretty much everything I do at the moment :-) so really appreciate c&c from more experienced and more objective eyes.

It's about 7" round x 5" high

[bodrighywood]

Looking at the sort of thing you are doing is very nostalgic. When I got back into turning I was chucking all and every bit of wood I could on the lathe and having a go at it. Main thing I would say is try and refine the shapes of the pieces. If they are fragile as this sounds one trick is to get the outer shape right, sand back to a good finish then wrap in tape securely before turning inside. In a sense you are jumping in the deep end as getting something good from pieces like this is a lot harder than using decent wood. just be careful as rotten wood or wood with splits can have unexpected faults and burst on you so make sure you are wearing a decent mask. Also be careful of the dust when sanding, lots of muck and stuff in it when the wood is rotten or spalted.

Pete

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

Wot he said ^ 

[ChrisF]

Jumping in a the deep end....yes, that sounds like me   It's not as if I don't have much decent wood, there's plenty waiting for me in the pile.  I do though really prefer the look of pieces that are left with bark, inclusions and other imperfections.

I'll have a go at reshaping it tomorrow.....perhaps more curvy and thinner....eggshell-like...

I always use a faceshield and a decent mask when sanding....low risk tolerance here 

Thanks for the honesty, very much appreciated. 

[edbanger]

there's nothing like a bit of rotten wood to play with   and a big pot of CA  

Ed

[Eric Harvey]

sounds like a good idea Chris,but don`t go to thin ,or wear a full face mask in case it go bang, if you do go thin,be nice to see the results of the re-turning.