Turned Vessel from Spalted Box Elder Maple

Here is a vessel I turned recently from a very interesting piece of spalted Box Elder Maple. This tree fell in my back yard - probably 18 months ago and had started to deteriorate.

As certain types of woods break down, fungus and insects can cause some of the coolest designs - dramatically different shades of wood color, dark lines, worm holes, all kinds of characteristics which make my wood projects unique, and special.

Here is a small vessel I turned from a 12 inch log, split in half. I simply started the roughing out in the shape of a bowl, but left the top rounded. I hollowed out the inside using a small spindle gauge - go very slowly, so that you can identify the desired chisel position, while avoiding catches. I found it helpful to position the gauge inside the vessel, while it was stopped, so I knew position, angle, etc. Then I backed the gauge out slightly, started the lathe, and moved in lightly to cut.

Here is the final result: