You might remember my problems with curly makore
Mike Schwing from Md.
>Hi guys. Since being bitten by the turning bug I've not been on this board much. Last spring you were helping me solve the problem of horrible tear out on some african cherry for a table that I was building. I'll post a pic of it below for memory purposes, but I had an interesting thing happen that I thought you'd find worthwhile as well.
I had a chunk of 3/4" makore left over, it was calling my name to turn. After the nasty allergic reaction I had to makore, turning it was not on my favorite ideas list for the remaining piece, as it is about the most dusty thing you can think of with no real good way to collect it all. So I covered myself head to toe in cloth and plastic and respirators and went at it anyway.
I was worried about tearout - as turning creates a lot of tear out anyway and the only way I was ever able to smooth out this makore was planing perpendicular to, not with, grain direction.
It may have been that I paid particular attention to this piece, knowing the wood's tendancies, and was more careful, or that I honed the gouge for cutting (normally do just for finishing cuts), but there was NO tearout at all on this. None! I was pretty much amazed. I was able, with some shearing cuts, to clean up the surface to the point of starting with 220 grit paper - but there was no tearout at all. I was SO SO SO frustrated when working with this in table form.
Anyway - I'm at a loss to explain it, but the Ellsworth gouge I used worked - even the wonderful LN smoothers and LV scraper planes I have didn't work well when the wood wasn't going round and round. Might make for some interesting wondering why.
Here's the shallow bowl, sitting on the matching table, and below is the table. The table wasn't a hand tool job except for the finishing. But you all helped immensely with that.
BTW, I'm getting the flat woodworking itch again (but not from this makore)
