It is clear to me that this wood could have been quite beautiful and I am strongly unhappy with NCWood for doing such a poor job of preserving it before shipping. And, in some respects, I don’t know that they should have offered such unstable blanks for sale in the first place. The blank with the largest break had actual visible mold in the crack of the knot where the failure occurred. To me, the degree of checking and molding indicates that the raw material was not stored or processed promptly or correctly. It is a shame that two failures occurred in large part because of pre-existing defects couple with my unwillingness to go to extraordinary lengths to preserve two blanks among hundreds. However, I am pleased with what was salvaged and will enjoy the piece, flawed though it is, for what it has to offer.
Pecan Side View
All cuts were made using the Easy Wood Tool system on my Robust American Beauty lathe. Forward chucking was in a Nova Chuck, while reverse chucking was done using a Nova Chuck with Cole Jaws. Sanding was with Gold and Green Wave sanding discs from Packard Woodworks. Final finish is Shellawax.
As always, I wish all my readers a great experience in whatever your wood working interests happen to be and to those who like working with lathes especially, do a good turn today!