I was cutting some firewood, and found a large ash crutch. I took a slice through it, and it was quite spalted so I thought I would see what was hiding inside. A bit of roughing with the chainsaw, and half an hour of steady work with the gouge, and it was looking fairly promising, although the pith (centre of the branch or trunk) is included, which may lead to cracking as it seasons. It wasn't too hard to cut as it's still fairly green, but there was a fair sized patch that was rather soft near the base which was tricky, as this tends to tear out rather than cut. It was quite bouncy as the moisture content was pretty uneven, and it was changing shape as I turned it, especially hollowing out! I tried clearing the centre with the Forstner bits, but with the wood being moist it was trapping the bit (the bit generates heat, and the wood epands as it gives off steam), so I gave up with that, did as much as I could with the gouge (it's difficult to get a good angle in such a deep bowl, especially with a turned in rim) and finished it with my hand made carbide scraper. It's quite a big piece, and still rather heavy, but in spite of being green it finished nicely, a coat of shellac to seal the grain on the outside, and then a mixture of boiled linseed oil and beeswax.

Note that the weight is as turned in the green state. The bowl will get lighter, and may develop a crack across the pith section.

Apologies for the noise on the video, I was in the middle of sanding, and that's the dust extraction running.

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