John Shuk
07-08-2004, 4:13 PM
I found this Black Birch Burl in my back yard a while ago and I turned it into a cylinder and sealed it. It has been calling out to me for a long time but I never knew just what to do with it. It was about the size and shape of an old oval porcelain doorknob. The wood is the real star here as I wanted to preserve as much of the "meat" as I could and since my tool technique leaves something to be desired I did as little as possible. My goal was to try to bring out the glow of the burl. I sanded to 400 grit applied 2 coats of BLO to "pop" the grain about an hour or so apart then 3 coats of 1 lb cut blond shellac 24 hours later. I sanded the shellac with 1000 grit then buffed with shavings. That is a quarter in the foreground for sizing.