Lidded Boxes #11: Lucky and Unlucky at the Same Moment

I turned two bowls today. Both were from bubinga blocks.

I was working on the third bowl when a catch occurred. That is when I became lucky and unlucky at the very same time. I was turning the inside of the bloodwood bowl. Things were going well, but then all of sudden the bowl became loose in the four jaw chuck. That was caused by a catch. I had sharpened my 1/2” bowl gouge prior to turning and the bowl was secure in the chuck. It is hard to say just what went wrong. Obviously, the gouge got caught by some wood. I wonder if the bloodwood block had some fissures or cracks already present. Did I catch the gouge on a fissure? Or, was it just bad technique?

I was standing in the correct place for safety. I was wearing the proper respirator and face guard. I had the tool rest in the proper location; in fact the rest helped contain the bowl as it broke.

This bowl had all the signs of becoming a beautiful piece. It was amazing.

My first thought was that I could continue to turn it. There were only some broken parts on the top of the bowl. However, as I inspected the bowl closer I notice that there were at least seven small cracks through the bowl. It is possible that I had overlooked these as I began turning this bowl. Either that or the catch caused these fissures. There was a lot of energy expended in this accident,

I decided that I had already been warned of the danger that I escaped. I was not going to push my luck further. I may keep what is left as a museum piece, or figure some other use for it later.

The small cracks or fissures show up in the image above.

-- --- Happy Howie