I was there! It was great! I went to Rudy Lopez's talks on natural edge winged bowls and thin stem natural edge goblets. Also Tom Wirsing's presentation on platters as well as his hands on, but I forgot to ask about green wood. And some of David Ellsworth's talks too. The remaining elm log is about a 16" diameter crotch. I will cut it about 1" from the pith on each side and try a bowl from one side (maybe natural edge) and a platter on the other and seal the ends. Should I seal just the end grain or the whole kit and kaboodle? Just started woodturning in the last year and have joined the Rocky Mountain Wood Turners club. Thanks all, Tom
Think about Rudy's winged bowl with just the wings then you have a thin platter.
This is an excellent way to show off the crotch figure.
It is a challenging endeavor but well worth the effort.
Rudy is working with wet wood, Tom is working with dry wood.
The crotch poses a couple of options.
I either cut a crotch dead center on the piths or 3/4" to one side of the piths.
With dead center I get two blanks that's show the most flame and each one has a "Y" shape pith less the chain saw kerf.
If I turn a bowl with the flame in the bottom, the best flame is on the outside of the bowl and some flame is lost in the chuck tenon.
With the cut 3/4 " off the pith I get one blank with all the feather and using a chuck mount I can get the inside bottom of the bowl a little below the center and have a lot more flame than bowls from the blanks cut dead center on the piths. The other piece probably won't have much flame.
These options yield either two good bowls or one great bowl.
The feather or flame figure is widest at the pith of the main stem leading up between the piths of the two branches.
The flame figure is not real thick and you will lose a lot ( maybe all) of the flame if you cut an inch from pith.
have seen a big box Elder crotch that showed flame at 4" from center but that is really unusual.
Below is NE bowl I cut at the pith. You can see the pith in the bowl and cracks were in the pith when I cut the blank.
It won't hold soup but it will hold 3dozen apple and a hand of bananas.
Sealing: a crotch platter blank I seal the endgrain and the face along the pith area. These place want to move so slowing the moving helps. I also plan on cutting 2" off both ends of the blank when I turn the platter to get rid of any end checking. The feather sometimes gets some tiny checks but thew can be left as a feature or filled.
If I'm cutting a crotch blank to dry for a platter, I seal the end grain, the crotch figure and the pith area.
With the crotch you have wood moving in at least 3 directions so slowing the drying is extra important.
I got to see Lee Carter's demo in July. The Rocky Mountain club has an amazing amount of talent, they will teach you a lot.
Have fun
Al