I turned a piece of spalted maple into a large bowl - the biggest turning I've done to date in fact. It was dicey at times because not only did I use nothing but spindle gouges to turn it, but the wood was a little too spalted in places. It was literally falling apart in areas, but I refused to give up on it and in the end managed to get a descent, albeit thick-walled, bowl out of it. There's one area that actually shrunk after it was done turning - it was where the wood was the most rotten and it's a little thinner walled in that spot. I literally soaked the end grain from both directions in wipe-on poly in an attempt to stiffen up the wood fibers while it was on the lathe, but it had a minimal effect. The entire bowl is finished with many, many, many coats of wipe-on poly, wet-sanded, had a coat of carnuba wax applied with steel wool, then 2 more coats applied with a non-abrasive pad - gives the finish a satin sheen and is exceptionally smooth.
