I’m not eligible to win this contest since I’m a Taunton employee but I thought I’d use the opportunity to post some photos of turned projects I’ve made over the years. 

This is a spalted sugar maple bowl I made about 10 years ago after acquiring the wood as a fresh cut chunk from a turner friend of mine near Hanover, N.H.

The spalting was interesting enough (and hard as heck to turn as you can see by the crater surface left by my less-than-sharp tools and bad sand job).

But more interesting was the abandoned maple syrup tap hole that appeared part way through the turning. I managed to keep it intact on the bowl rim and it makes a great discussion piece.

Spalted maple is some of the hardest wood to turn. You need sharp tools and forget the sandpaper. It only wears away the soft punky spots of the wood, leaving the hard healthy sections polished and an uneven surface. Health concerns over turning the fungus spores are also a concern. Read more on spalting from our resident expert.

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