G'day all,

My dad, being a turner in te furniture industry used the disaraging sense of bodger. Once factory and water/steam/engine/electric powered lathes - in factories took the work of 'small masters' like bodgers, it was necessary to demean them. In fact their product was vastly superior. The billets were split to size ... so they ran straight down the grain, with none of the offset that comes from running a relentlessly sqare saw cut through a tapering log.

After first splitting, the billets were crossstacked to dry and given the first turning to rough shape - then stacked again. They were nearly dry when finished and quite stable ... and dead strong, for they ran with the grain. The factory product might look a tad better (even exhibit more "interesting" grain), but it was never as strong or stable.

Regards,

Bob Bolton