#hotoffthelathe tonight is a turned and carved cedar bowl at 6.25" wide x 2.5" tall. Wife gave me a Master Carver Pro for Christmas which I used to carve out the 1" high band of dimples along the outer rim. This piece is from an outer section of log that grew into itself, leaving the bark inclusion in the bottom right and swirled grain like a burl.
@Eponine Thanks! The more of this wood I turn, the more amazed I am that it sat in a guy's back yard for a decade and he gave it to me from a "free wood wanted" post on NextDoor. It would have been hauled off as trash except that it weighed ~300 lbs or so and was too much trouble to move. The guy couldn't believe his luck that someone would come haul it off at no charge. Serendipity, thy nickname is Cedar. ;-)
@tdotrob beautiful work! thanks for explaining about the bark too
@KarenSohne Thanks for the kind words!
The first pic is the intact cookie The lighter ring of sapwood surrounds the darker heartwood.
Close-up photo shows where the sapwood juts inward, revealing contours of a much younger tree. As it grew, bark was included at the center of those.
Small inclusions are OK but large ones can cause the wood to fly apart when turning and are dangerous. Any of the wood at the edge or where sapwood intrudes must be worked with caution.
@tdotrob That looks so pretty 😍