I rough turned this bowl on my wood lathe. Then I coated it with was, wrapped it in brown paper bags, and left it on a shelf in the shop to dry.

Then life intervened and it has been several years. I think it is a very nice woodturning project.

The bowl is now dry and ready for finish turning but developed a large split in the bottom while drying.

I want to salvage the bowl some way. I’m open to suggestions that will produce a nice result either by blending, complementing or contrasting.

Please leave your suggestion as a comment below.

I’ll make another video with the final result based on your suggestions.

While you’re at it, please register at right so I can keep you posted.

Transcript

Hi, Alan Stratton from AsWoodTurns.com

Several years ago, a friend cut down an Ash tree and gave me several large chunks of the trunk. This was one of the pieces. I rough turned it green as large as I could, coated it with a wax sealer, wrapped it in brown paper bags, and put it on a shelf to dry. I think that was all the right things to do.

Then I got distracted by work and life.

Now it’s time to finish this large, very nice bowl. After several years, it is as dry as it is going to ever be. It is presently about 8 inches high, 14 inches in diameter across the grain, and 14 ½ inches in diameter along the grain. Walls are about 1 ½ inches thick. It weighs about 16 pounds.

One problem – In drying, it developed a large crack across the bottom. The crack is about 3/16 of an inch wide on the bottom and is visible on the inside of the bowl.

Splits like this happen. I don’t want to scrap this bowl. I’d rather do something to salvage it. I’m sure this has happened to others. So, I’d like to do something that would repair it; complement the bowl; or contrast the bowl in some way.

So, here’s the deal.

Please add a comment below this video with your suggestion on what to do with this bowl. Based on your suggestions, I’ll select what to do and make a video on the result. If there is a lot of diversity, I may have to put together a poll to consolidate viewpoints.

So, please let me know what you would do in a comment below this video or on my website AsWoodTurns.com. I’ll keep you posted.