Thoughts on what to do with a piece of wood
slightly out of the ordinary

"What Do I Do with this Piece of Wood?"

As I contemplated the other side of the crotch, I found similar cracks on the three ends, here outlined in black. However, once these are cut back they should be no problem. I think I will turn this into a hollow form with the grain parallel to the ground.

Looking at the other side I thought that the bark inclusion might be all the way through the piece which would make the hollow form unlikely to stay in one piece. I trimmed some of the bark away with a chain saw and found that I was mistaken. Things look good.
Some time ago I had made up an acetate of circles by using a computer drawing program to draw a range of circles from about 1" to 8" and then printing it out on an overhead sheet. Here I lay it on the wood to check for grain flow, color, and clearance from cracks.
I marked off the first cuts which would leave me with a piece without cracks. It still leaves room for a natural edge if desired.
Having trimmed the ends with a chain saw, I decided that the shape did not lend itself to a natural edge form. Others may disagree.
Looking at the end of the piece I consider the shape of the hollow form that is most reasonable from the wood.

As it appears that a 7" diameter is about the maximum, I lay a template on the wood
and draw around it.
The circle is cut out on the band saw. I find that a drive center works bestter on solid wood than on bark, so I trim the blank with a chain saw to debark it.
Following a roughing turn on the lathe I am able to examine the form for figure. This end has a bark inclusion plus a fair amount of the feather figure from the crotch.
This end has only a little of the feather figure and no bark inclusion, so it will be the bottom and the other the top.
Viewed from the side we can see that the shape is good but will need to come in a lot more at the bottom.
I sanded the bottom flat, attached a glue block with hot glue, finish turned, hollowed and sanded. Here is the top before the finish goes on,
and here is the bottom.
The top with a coat of Minwax Tung Oil. I will leave it on the glue block for a few days for the convenience of finishing as I add another two coats of Tung Oil, sanding with 2000 grit between coats. The sanding is not necessary but seems to give a better final finish.