In response to several requests, I have posted in the How-tos, Tips and Techniques Forum an outline of the technique I used to produce two of the pieces shown in my Members Gallery..
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Rippled Surface Effect for Vases and Containers
- Thread starter Dennis J Gooding
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Thank you, Dennis for your great tutorial. Have you tried it on face grain pieces?
Nope, it never occured to me. Off hand, I can't visualize what would happen.
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My guess is that it wouldn't be nearly as nice as the warping on end grain pieces.
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The easiest way to visualize warping is that the growth rings want to open up going from round to flat.
I would expect the fins in face grain vessel to warp symmetrically.
Peaks at the end grain folding down in the side grain side.
A pattern similar to the rims of dried bowls.
A bigger issue is cutting the fins. Parting tool does a great job cutting spindle oriented pieces does a poor job on face grain oriented pieces.
Melvin Firmager was doing some similar pieces with wider spaces between the fins.
I think he did all spindle orientation too.
I would expect the fins in face grain vessel to warp symmetrically.
Peaks at the end grain folding down in the side grain side.
A pattern similar to the rims of dried bowls.
A bigger issue is cutting the fins. Parting tool does a great job cutting spindle oriented pieces does a poor job on face grain oriented pieces.
Melvin Firmager was doing some similar pieces with wider spaces between the fins.
I think he did all spindle orientation too.
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The fluted parting tool works fairly well on face grain. I use it more than any of the others because of the relatively cleaner cuts.
Because of the difference in geometry, the stresses that affect shrinkage (and therefore distortion) change when sliced into planks (the fins) as opposed to bowl drying. The radial stress that causes shrinkage towards the pith is reduced somewhat. When planks are dried they tend to cup towards the pith because of lateral stress which is the reason that lumber is sticker end and weighted during drying.
So, I agree that the effect is likely to be more symmetrical, but possibly more like drying lumber than like drying bowls. In any event, I think that symmetry in the warping might be interesting enough to work in some instances. The drying procedure might need to be inverted from what is used for an end grain vessel (I.e., induce faster drying on the exterior).
Because of the difference in geometry, the stresses that affect shrinkage (and therefore distortion) change when sliced into planks (the fins) as opposed to bowl drying. The radial stress that causes shrinkage towards the pith is reduced somewhat. When planks are dried they tend to cup towards the pith because of lateral stress which is the reason that lumber is sticker end and weighted during drying.
So, I agree that the effect is likely to be more symmetrical, but possibly more like drying lumber than like drying bowls. In any event, I think that symmetry in the warping might be interesting enough to work in some instances. The drying procedure might need to be inverted from what is used for an end grain vessel (I.e., induce faster drying on the exterior).