Three bowling pins sit in a line on a shelf in a spray booth. Corrugated filter panels line the back wall. The bowling pins have a clear coat displaying wild wood grain. Two red stripes are painted in parallel and close together around the necks

A bowling alley called Cedar Lanes used to reside at the corner of Cedar and Shields in Fresno. The actual lanes were salvaged and I acquired a literal section of a bowling lane, that had been sawn and pried from the floor.

After removing many nails and much surfacing, I was left with a bundle of beautiful sticks. Cedar Lanes definitely didn’t have cedar lanes. This was gorgeous old fir, riddled with black nail holes.

Some of those sticks were glued up into turning blanks and I created three commemorative bowling pins minus the white paint but with the iconic double stripe in vermillion lacquer.

A bowling pin in progress on a lathe. Depth grooves show the outline of the pin base. A tool rest sits in front of the left half of the blank. Fine wood chips pile on the steel machine below. Gouges in a rack and safety glasses sit behind.
A bowling pin in progress on a lathe. The base is shaped and grooves outline the pin top. A tool rest sits in front of the right half of the blank. Fine wood chips pile on the steel machine below. Gouges in a rack and safety glasses sit behind.
A bowling pin in progress on a lathe. A full bowling pin shape is revealed. A tool rest sits in front of the left half of the blank. Fine wood chips pile on the steel machine below. Gouges in a rack and safety glasses sit behind.
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