First Burl

[James Williams 007]

I've gone through cherry, maple, and a few other wood bowls and I am getting brave enough to tackle a burl but I have a few questions first. Has anyone worked with Ramon burl? I plan on making a small tulip shaped bowl with a live edge. As I am shaping the outside should I come up from the bottom to meet the live edge or go from the live edge down to the base? I know some people like to use CA to keep the bark in place but wont that interfere with the finish once the piece is complete? This bark feels really solid anyway. I am going to cut a perfect round out of the center so that I can use the cut offs for pens and also to minimize the beating of heavy roughing. Should I go straight to a finished piece or rough it out then DNA and wait then finish turn? Any other suggestions or words of wisdom would be great thanks!

[Donny Lawson]

That's a nice burl you have there.I'm not that experienced yet but I know someone will ring in with some great suggestions.Let us know how it turns out.
Donny

[Jack Mincey]

James,
That is a pretty piece of wood you have there. Nature edge bowls are the one bowl that I turne to finished thickness green and let it dry. If they warp it just adds to the look. Two things you need to work on is to get the best cut on your bowl that you possibly can, which helps you a great deal when sanding a warped bowl. The other thing is to turn a uniform thickness and don't leave a thick tendon on the bottom. I turne my once turned bowls to 1/4 " thichness or less leaving just a very thin tendon on the bottom to hold it on the lathe when it dries. Remember you aren't going to return the bowl so you just need enough tendon to hold it while sanding. I sometimes turn the tendon off green and sand when dry holding it in my lap. For drying a once turned bowl I put them in a brown paper bag. If it is less then 1/4" a month is enough to dry it. I used DNA when I first started turning green wood, but don't see any need in it anymore. A consistant thickness and controlling the airflow with a bag or box works just as good for me. I've only lost one bowl in the last year to checks.
Good Luck
Jack

[Steve Schlumpf]

Jack pretty much laid the process out for you - so I just wanted to wish you good luck with the NE bowl! Looking forward to seeing the finished turning!

[James Williams 007]

Thanks for the help I am going to play with a few different forms before I dig in. Jack I love it up in Cullowhee its a pretty area! My best friend went to Western so I spent a ton of time camping and hiking that area.

[Ken Vonk]

I have turned a bowl and some pens out of Ramin burl. This stuff is almost as hard as turning stone!! I kept having to sharpen my bowl gouge every minute or two and I was using a Thompson gouge!! Even when using a HSS scraper I had to sharpen every minute or two while roughing. Came out looking very nice though. Good Luck and be sure to post some pictures. The base of the attached walnut bowl is made from Ramin with several coats of wipe on poly.

Ken