X's or O's - Pith up or down etc..

[Sam Fleisher]

I remember seeing a thread somewhere about pith up or down on face plate work and I didn't follow it to see what the consensus was. I can't find it now of course.

Going to be making some large platters (18-19 inch) out of lightly spalted maple and way back when (3-4? years) there was a discussion about the same thing but it mentioned stability of the wood one way versus the other.

Sooooo x's or o's for stability or it makes not an iota bit of difference?

Not sure why I make these threads, always seem to regret it down the road.. lol

 

[hockenbery]

to me platters with a small bowl in the center look better bark up so circles show in the small bowl.

 

[Rusty Nesmith]

I like pith up so you have a nice grain pattern instead of one that looks like end grain.

 

[Sam Fleisher]

to me platters with a small bowl in the center look better bark up so circles show in the small bowl.

ya but, these are going to be 18 inches across with a flat bottom no bowl really. more concerned with stablity and not end up looking like a Pringles potato chip down the road. The blanks are kiln dried now.

 

[John K Jordan]

Sam, if the wood is good, cut some distance from the pith, dry (at EMC), and well sealed, I haven't had any problems or remember any difference in stability if I worked with the pith in a platter up or down. What might make a difference is if the pith side contains any juvenile wood around the pith - notoriously unstable.

I should say I've never made a platter with a completely flat bottom, always make some kind of foot, even if it's wide. I almost always seal/finish with multiple coats of "danish" oil (some type of polymerizing oil such as BLO, poly, and solvent), each coat dried for a day or so, up to maybe 8-10 coats total.

With the bottom completely flat all the way across like a flat disk I would be concerned about warping with seasonal humidity changes. Also, although kiln dried, the wood should, of course, be brought to EMC for the intended final environment before turning and sealing. I store all wood, turn, and apply finish in a climate-controlled shop. Regardless, I personally think sealing the wood properly is important.

As for preference, in general I prefer the Xs look over the Os, ESPECIALLY if the pith is not well centered OR if the plank is sawn slightly non-parallel to the pith. I try to pay attention to this at the sawmill.

Note the top/inside only has to be very slightly dished to control the pattern. I usually start with dry 8/4 stock. Actually, I don't think I've ever made a platter that wasn't slightly dished on the top/inside since I like that look.

This was from a Sapele plank about 20" wide. The pith was close to centered across the width of the plank so I made "O"s, pith up.


These, about 14" and 19", are from different Sapele planks. The piths wern't exactly in the center so I thought orienting this way might be more interesting. Again, the top/inside is very slightly dished. (We use these a lot, even earlier today to take baked treats to a gathering.)


You might make a wild guess that I like Sapele! I have some Sapele planks that are over 30" wide I should probably use so they don't go the the burn pile when I kick off someday.

JKJ

 

[Kent Reisdorph]

Most of the time I go for O's. I suppose the primary reason is that it allows you to make a bigger bowl than the other way around. Live and natural edge are always O's, of course. I'll flip it and make X's in some cases.

 

[Tim Hunter]

For your specific application, either way is fine. For thicker objects, I like pith-up. (and don't argue 'cause I'll get pithed off!)

 

[robo hippy]

Well, I kind of like all orientations, quarter sawn, circles, and cathedrals. When I sell them, I can't tell any preference from the people that buy them. Every one wants some thing different....

robo hippy

 

[Darryn Achall]

You have a nice stack of blanks there. Make a few of each and see which ones you prefer.