A neighbor in town asked
me to make her a bowl from her maple tree stump, which was formerly the base of a good diameter tree — one of the quintessential
maples you will find along the streets of historic New England towns. After a short time of cutting the stump, the sparks
began to fly and I found a pipe and threaded rod within it.
I decided it was only appropriate
for a piece of the pipe to remain in the bowl as a tribute to the history of the old tree. Another reason I wanted to include
the pipe is that it was interesting to see how the wood grain formed around it as the tree grew (see close-up photo below).
The pipe was first removed, then glued back in after the bowl had been rough turned and dried. I used metal grinding
stones and a power sander to bring the metal flush with the wood.
