I took the plunge into turning. I bought a cheep lathe off the back of a Cummings truck. I turned a spindle first just to see how it worked. Then I wanted to jump right into a bowl. So I went to the firewood pile and picked a 3" diameter piece. Then it hit me. It is already round. So I mounted it and gouged out one end. Then I made a second one and decided to make bookends. The whole project only took one hour with about 20 minutes of turning. It looks rustic but it was pure fun to make. No worries about a major chip out for I could always throw it back in the firewood pile. Also no turning the bottom of the bowl and no parting tool needed. I hope the pictures made it with this thread it was my first attempt at uploading pictures.