Just pith-etic

Turning this chunky hollowbowlform (my own copyrighted term) I had high hopes for it’s final stages. A bowl that’s almost a hollowform with some styling queues from some of the many wine bottle stoppers I’ve turned. The wood is an unknown type, more from the pile in my parent’s backyard but free wood is good wood, especially if it’s sat for a year or so.

Upon hollowing I soaked it overnight in DNA, then wrapped it in newspaper as I’ve done many blanks in the past. This one though, this one had something working against it, something so evil it had no defense against it; the dreaded pith. This is the centermost part of the tree according to its rings and its chock full of softer, spongy cells called parenchyma. Think of it as the center of a corncob and the same reason why those little corn cob holders never stay lodged in the cob. It’s just not a stable part of the wood and because of that; it causes a lot of ‘checking’ in the wood. Case in point.

So, what will I do with this thing? Toss it in the burn pile (if I had a burn pile, damn city ordinances), try to fill the cracks, purposely cause more cracks? I’m not really sure but I know one thing; Pith is the pits.