MichaelMouse said:
An engineer is out walking in the park and sees a wild-eyed man hitting a strangely painted block of wood with a stick. The engineer's curiosity gets the better of him, so he asks the wild-eyed man, "Why are you hitting that block?"
The wild-eyed man replies with a bit of a crazed smile, "The sound keeps the elephants away."
The engineer, now fully intrigued, digs deeper, "But why? There are no elephants here."
As the wild-eyed man continues to make his noise with renewed vigor, he says, "See! It's working."
Similar results, less the soak at ~3/4 wall thickness on cherry and maple at my house. Y'think it might be what's common between our two approaches rather than what's different?
Don't think so as my wall thicknesses on roughed bowls run from 1-1/4 to 2-1/2" (diameters 18-30") translating to a whole lot more MC to deal with. Prior to use of alcohol bath, my dry times with sealed end grain and controlled atmosphere (paper bags) run to several months minimum, especially for cherry and maple. Total shrinkage rates are the same, naturally, but deformation, (as in asymmetrical warpage) is reduced by an easy 50%. I turn some woods to final in a single session, especially Sycamore, because I'm looking for those wild surface textures that result. Thus they're cut to 3/8" or so, sanded wet, bagged for control, and revisited in a few of months. Some make it, some don't, but I am actually seeking the deformation and warpage, so I don't soak them to reduce it. Finish is then several applications of Waterlox and the re-turning of a stable foot ring.
But speaking of engineers:
Q: When does a person decide to become an engineer?
A: When he realizes he doesn't have the charisma to be an undertaker.
Q: What do engineers use for birth control?
A: Their personalities.
Q: How can you tell an extroverted engineer?
A: When he talks to you, he looks at your shoes instead of his own.
Q: Why did the engineers cross the road?
A: Because they looked in the file and that's what they did last year.
Q: How do you drive an engineer completely insane?
A: Tie him to a chair, stand in front of him, and fold up a road map the wrong way.
You might be an engineer if ...
... choosing between buying flowers for your girlfriend and upgrading your RAM is a moral dilemma.
... you take a cruise so you can go on a personal tour of the engine room.
... in college you thought Spring Break was metal fatigue failure.
... the sales people at the local computer store can't answer any of your questions.
... at an air show you know how fast the skydivers are falling.
... you bought your wife/girlfriend a new CD-ROM drive (or a Palm Pilot) for her birthday.
... you can quote scenes from any Monty Python movie.
... you can type 70 words per minute but can't read your own handwriting.
... you comment to your wife that her straight hair is nice and parallel.
... you sit backwards on the Disneyland rides to see how they do the special effects.
... you have saved every power cord from all your broken appliances.
... you have more friends on the Internet than in real life.
... you know what “
http://†stands for.
... you look forward to Christmas so you can put the kids' toys together.
... you can’t resist trying to change a good design.
... you spent more on your calculator than you did on your wedding ring.
... you still own a slide rule and know how to use it.
... you've already calculated how much you make per second.
... you've tried to repair a $5 radio.