Monkey Puzzle

I decided to turn some Monkey Puzzle

My lathe will only allow a maximum diameter of 12.25 inches so I needed to get this log to fit. I have a template circle 11.75 inches diameter so I screwed it to the log and used a chainsaw to trim the loge to that size.

With some sawing and planing, I managed to get the log on to the lathe and was able to turn it by hand without it hitting anywhere.

It was very unbalanced and since my old CCL lathe does not go below 500 revs the whole shed was shaking until I got it balanced.

I have now got it balanced and have a couple of decisions to make. The first is to decide whether I am going to make a deep bowl or a hollow form. I need to be deep to show the contrast between the knots and the trunk.

The other decision I need to make is whether or not to turn out the voids or to leave them as a feature.