Good ideas, for sure. I think I'll try hobby lobby first. I'm trying to mark on the end grain, cutting 5 equal sized triangles (72 degrees). Then I'll I should be able to turn it and get the grain as even circles, top to bottom with dark wood at the bottom and light colored sapwood on top. Saw this in a book called TURNING GREEN WOOD. I'll take some pictures and we'll see if this really works!