Best use of timber

[mickdundee]

I recently posted a sycamore bowl in the gallery which has woodworm damage to approx 1/3rd of the wood. I've a second piece which I imagine has damage to a similar extent.
What would people do with it? Either I turn a similar sized bowl with woodworm, or make a smaller one and try to avoid the worst of the worm. Or something different altogether.

Thanks, Mick

[fuzzyturns]

You are the master of your destiny.

[GBF]

Just recently I dumped 22 Elm Bowl blanks approx. 14" x 3" full of woodworm because I have found people don't like Bowls with worm holes in
No doubt others will come on here and say the have found people like them and that is possible but not my experience.

Regards George

[Les Symonds]

I think that both Fuzzy's and George's reply sum up the problem. You need to know your  local market, to determine whether or not wormy bowls will sell. I can sell the odd one, now and again, but certainly not too many of them. These days, if I turn a lump that turns out to be too wormy and I haven't got one in the shop, then I'll keep it, but if I've already got one for sale, I don't bother finishing the next one and it usually goes on the fire.
Les

[Wood spinner]

Use them for practice pieces , Texturing , colouring , burning etc 

[malcy]

Anything with worm holes in my workshop gets dumped. I will not have woodworm anywhere near my good wood. The best place for wormy wood is the fire, in my opinion. Malcolm.

[bodrighywood]

Woodworm can be a real pain. I was given a pallet full of oak and elm burrs a couple of years ago and since then have ended up burning a lot of it and keeping the rest under cover outside. I have a nightmafre of selling a piece inn ocently and finding out that it had worm which then woke up to infect a customers house. With wood with the  bark on such as the burs the worm can often only be seen if the \rk is stripped off. Better safe than sorry IMHO.

Pete

[Bryan Milham]

As much as I like to see wood that has had (as I put it) a previous life, and I think worm eaten timber has a lot of character I agree it's awful to sell.

At best I can sell wormy fruit, face to face where I can explain that it has been treated to kill any residents (I freeze them as said in a recent post).

As said, use it to experiment with, very thin turnings, pierced, pyro'd or coloured work, something you might not otherwise have a go at. Have a play.

[mickdundee]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I'll have another look at the timber and see if it's got a decent clear portion, otherwise it might be a practice piece that goes on the fire.
As it stands I haven't really made an effort to sell anything. Not sure I'm quite there yet