Drag a block of walnut out of the shed - this tree was knocked down in an ice storm and I have been drying it for a few years now. Normally I rough turn bowls from green wood within a few days of procuring it - in this case I stacked it in block form and so far it has been drying without any problems:
This is the block I selected:
I used giant calipers to scribe a circle on the largest face. Then I sawed out the round on my bandsaw:
The bandsaw was running when I took that picture - if you listen closely you can hear it. Next I drilled a 3/8" diameter hole using the center point of the scribed circle as a guide. Then I held the block up to the running lathe and the drive screw embedded itself into the blank:
You can see the growth rings and the curve of the log. Mounting it that way saves work - if you follow the natural shape of the tree you don't have to turn away quite so much wood.
