[Artemisia] Boccee - was Period Toys & Games Question

[aravis227 at comcast.net]

As I recall from Master Niccolo's teachings.  The period version of Bocce was called Patonk (he theorized that the name came from the sound the balls made when they hit each other).  The more period balls were a polished silver metal and you could tell your pieces from the other players by the engraved markings on the balls (various circle designs).  The small ball was still wooden.  I have always loved the game (I was raised playing it...and if you think that Bocce isn't a competitive sport, you should play against my Uncle Mark, who plays it the way most people play golf..."Quiet please...I'm calculating for wind speed").  It's a great game for things like fighter practice because it doesn't take a lot of thought and you can still socialize while doing it.
-Maysun

-------------- Original message -------------- 
From: Michael the Loud <hanhebin at yahoo.com> 

> I have tried turning balls for furnature legs on my 
> springpole lathe but that really isn't a problem with 
> green wood because being perfectly round isn't an 
> issue. As the wood cures the balls will distort thus 
> affecting how they roll. 
> 
> I have been told that you can do the initial rough cut 
> when the wood's green then take the turning off the 
> spindles and bring the wood inside for a couple of 
> months and let the wood cure indoors. After the wood 
> has a chance to cure replace the turning back on the 
> spindles and do the finishing cuts. 
> 
> Has anybody done this before? I don't know too many 
> woodturners that use period lathes. 
> 
> I could always break down and use my powered lathe but 
> that would be cheating. 
> 
> Michael 
> 
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