Busted knuckles and a broken bowl

Tonight I turned the cherry bowl shown here. I used a screw faceplate from the top, turned the outside, shaped the foot, and then sanded and finished the foot and outside. So far so good.

I took it off the faceplate and put a 4-jaw chuck on the foot. I used a bit of old thin t-shirt to cushion the finished foot. I started turning the inside, got one catch, and the chuck let go. So I removed the cloth and cranked the chuck as tight as possible deciding that I would have to refinish the foot. Well, the chuck let go two more times on subsequent catches (not major catches, I might add) and then the third time the bowl cracked when it landed.

4 hours and 3 busted knuckles later, I've got a cracked, partially finished bowl that should have and could have been really nice. Again, I can learn from the mistakes, and I got to try a few new things too. I just wish I'd gone three for three. I've got to get better at chucking and at not catching when I'm turning the inside of the bowl.

Update: This morning, after hearing this, my 5 year-old daughter said: "Daddy, next time don't do the cracking part, OK? Don't do the part where the bowl flies away!" I love how kids can boil things down to amazingly simple terms.