I have used, and written about, Spectraply blanks in the past. At that time, I was writing based on the experience of using them, on multiple occasions and from several different manufacturers, as pen blanks. I referenced that they also existed as bowl and mill blanks but that I had not yet had the chance to use these larger pieces. Now, I have used them in bowl blank format, on two separate occasions, and I am saddened to report that I was disappointed, actually outright irritated, on both occasions. Not only will I never attempt to use Spectraply, or other products similar to it, as a bowl blank, I further find it difficult to remain saddened that the supply has been, at a minimum interrupted, if not eliminated completely.
Spectraply Bowl Interior
I admit that I have enjoyed using Spectraply as a pen blank material because the colors are certainly unique and the spiral pattern is quite pleasing on the scale of a pen blank, but this is decidedly a case of bigger not making better. I was excited to try the experiment but certainly not pleased with the results. However, in the beginning, I was encouraged by the sheer visual appeal of the turning process. The yellow birch wood that is dyed and layered to make Spectraply is quite soft and it turns exceptionally easily, although as is always true with especially soft woods on the lathe it does have a tendency to burr when cut, ensuring that a careful sanding will be required to make the final presentation acceptable. The appeal comes when cutting through the different quite thin layers as the blank spins because different colors will seemingly “pop” out of nowhere in quick order, making the blank appear similar to a carnival spinning top. I made a video of it but I can’t figure out how to shrink it down to a size that my webpage editor won’t choke on, so I can’t, unfortunately, show it here just yet.
The problems with the Spectraply as a bowl blank will come later in the process.
Spectraply Bowl Edge On
The first problem is what to do with the flat portions of the bowl? Unless one is making something akin to an ice cream cone, there will simply have to be flatter areas to any bowl shape that I can conceive of. The problem with Spectraply is that these flat areas will be monochrome and given the color choices I had available in this blank, either a vibrant blue or garish red were the only choices aside from plain boring birch white. In one case more than the other, being more familiar with this problem, I made a distinct effort to dimple the bottom of the interior but only to mixed success I fear. The color swirl that made Spectraply such as success for me as a pen blank did not readily transfer over to the bowl sized versions.
But easily the greatest problem was with the lack of fastness to the dyes used to color the yellow birch panels that comprise Spectraply in the first place. Almost immediately upon beginning the process of cutting the blank the user is confronted with a haze of purple wood dust. Any grade school age child even vaguely familiar with the behavior of Crayons will know what happens when you mix a bright red and a bright blue: you get a bright purple. This dust will soon have your entire work area covered in a purple film, and while you could simply brush and vacuum that away over time, what you can’t do so easily is prevent this purple dust from contaminating most all of the quite otherwise white areas of undyed birch in your blank and then finished piece. The red, white, and blue effect quickly looses ground to purple purple purple everywhere, both in the shop and on the blank itself.