Can someone help me with my stump?

[jaybee]

Metalworking stump, that is.  I found a solid chunk of wood at least 18" diameter on my brother-in-law's wood pile and decided to make a stump out of it.  I made a whole series of plunge cuts with my skilsaw from all directions with the cuts less than 1" apart at the diameter to make a bowl in the top.  Trying to clean out the material in between hasn't been easy, however.  The wood fibers are pretty sturdy and don't want to break.  Although this is seasoned firewood it has been stored outside.  Do I need to bring it in for a few months to let it dry more?  Maybe clean the whole bowl out with the saw instead of a chisel?  I'm an adequate woodworker but don't consider myself an expert so I don't have encyclopedic knowledge of moisture levels, kiln drying, and all that jazz.

[river1]

go here

http://allshops.org/cgi-bin/community/communityalbums.cgi?action=openalbum&albumid=9980123442783

there is info for dishing your stump. there is also a pic of a "lancelot" blade for a grinder. be careful the blades are VERY dangerous.

later jim

[Dave]

M-80  :?:
Dave

[58 Yeoman]

Find one of those stump carvers that shape animal figures with tree stumps.  Bet he wouldn't charge much for cutting a bowl in your stump.  He could at least rough it in for you.

[Carnut]

A stump?

[phat46]

How about a 4 1/2" disc grinder with a 36 or 40 grit disc on it?

[Rayvyn]

Draw a circle on the wood to whatever diameter you want. Drill a 1" to 1.5" hole in the middle with a Forstner bit to the depth you want. Then set the bit pictured below in a router, set to a depth of taking only 1/8" out of the wood on the first pass while keeping to your diameter. Take all the wood out within the circle. Then drop the bit 1/16th to 1/8th inch and make a pass around in a slightly smaller circle. Keep doing this until you get the rough bowl hollowed out. Just go light and easy on each pass.

Then take a 50 to 80 grit sheet of sand paper (preferrably cloth backed), wrap it around one of those Mothers polishing balls, tape wrap the excess below the ball, put it in a drill and sand the bowl smooth...

I wonder if this qualifies for the Tech contest... :?