Wednesday, July 20, 2011

What Turners Call a 'Design Opportunity'

  Finding bug-eaten holes deep through a work piece is always a disappointment.  Deciding what to do about them puts one in a quandry that can last for days.  This piece of Western Red Cedar looked sound as I prepared it for the lathe, but once the cutting began, it revealed a nasty flaw that would leave a 5/8" hole through the side no matter how I cut into it.  I could have drilled a round hole and plugged it with the same wood.  I could have filled it with colored epoxy.  I could have left it alone and titled the piece 'What's Bugging Me.'  Instead, I decided to let the flaw become a feature:


  Adding a leather strip looped through the hole and decorated with jewelry baubles seemed a nice way to make up for an unattractive flaw.  So, now it is a unique piece of artwork as well as a functional bowl.  This is, in the Turning World, what is called a 'Nice Save.' 

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