Burl bowl gouge/ scraper?

[Ron Bontz]

Well I needed to rough out this blank I had cut out of my fallen white oak. It had three knots and 2 coats of anchor seal on it but started checking quite a bit anyway. It gave me fits to say the least. I think it took me about 3 hours to rough out. So now I am curious. What would an experienced bowl turner have used on this one? It has about a 10" dia. and is 7" tall. It is currently soaking in DNA.:)

[charlie knighton]

i got some red oak and white oak in cardboard barrels, blanks put in barrels the day tree cut down, hope it takes the checks out, usually let sit for about 6 to 9 months

this is my first batch of while oak, the white oak has a lot less sapwood

[Hilel Salomon]

The "easy rougher" is worth its weight in gold when you are roughing out a blank. It cuts the process down considerably.
Regards, Hilel.

[Norm Zax]

What Hilel said plus LDD. Tough wood becomes smoother and more workable when submerged in a mixture of water and liquid dish detergent. The simple type. Havent tried this technique but heard a few happy users so far, particularly on tough woods.

[Ron Bontz]

Well, I used my 3/4" v gouge and a 1-1/4" round nose scraper. The gouge had to be kept almost at a 90 degree angle to keep from catching. I am not sure of my technique being correct but I would start out with the tool about 90 degrees facing the direction of travel and rotate it just enough to cut. Otherwise it would catch very quickly, despite being sharp. My first experience with burl. :eek: Live and learn. I'll have to look at the "Easy Rougher"

[Allen Neighbors]

When I'm turning a large piece, of difficult wood, I use my 3/4" Doug Thompson v-flute gouge. It has the same bevel that it came with. It never fails me.

[Reed Gray]

I don't know if I would call that burl, or just highly figured wood, but the problem is the grain is running in a million different directions. The sides are also fairly straight, which means you are cutting more straight down into the fiber rather than at an angle through them. Scrapers for the roughing cuts (of course, I would have gotten at least one core out of it), and gouges for the finish cuts, and probably a scraper at a shear angle for finish cuts as well. I have found that a scraper can some times make a cleaner cut than my gouges in some difficult woods.

robo hippy