I have a couple of green ash crotch pieces in my woodpile, so I sliced them open a couple of days ago to see what the figuring was like. Here’s the first piece, mounted on the lathe. Step one is to flatten what’s going to be the bottom and turn either a tenon or a recess on the bottom for the chuck to grip once you get the basic outside shape made.

Then you start peeling away the shavings, forming the outside. On an irregular piece like this, you have to slow the lathe down, because the wood is unbalanced. Turn it too fast, and things start vibrating, which is a kind of excitement I don’t need. This shot shows the piece from the headstock end of the lathe, which gives you an idea of the overall orientation of the trunk and branches on this. (This tree was standing dead, and all of the bark had fallen off. The wood itself was still perfectly sound, though.)

After getting the outside shape defined, I sanded it to 400 grit, and then flipped it over and started hollowing it out. After getting more wood removed, you can start speeding up the lathe, and things begin moving a little faster.

And here’s the finished bowl, sanded inside and out to 400 grit, and finished with two applications of Danish oil. I call it a Heart bowl, because the overall shape is like a heart–more anatomical than Valentine’s Day.