It's been said that to be a woodcarver you must have a lot of patience. I don't know about that. Just could not wait for spalting to occur in the maple that was bagged last Tuesday. The results were better bagging after final sanding. There was plenty of dark character before removing a 1/4" of material inside and out. This bowl(8x8x3 $40) is on of a pair from a center cut. There is also a 16x8x3 from the same slab waiting to be finished. A nice matching set.