Scrub Oak Burl Hollowform

[Curt Fuller]

This is the finished piece from this thread..
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=134047&highlight=scrub+oak+burl
It ended up being 10.25" x 7" and it has a Watco danish oil finish. It's not hollowed as well as I would have liked, I ran out of tool. So it's about 3/8" thick through the upper half and gets thicker, to about 3/4" in the bottom. But I had the tool rest as close as I dared and the hollowmaster up against the ferrule. So rather than risk messing up this nice piece of wood I called it good enough. This is probably the best burl I'll ever get a hold of. I took pics from 3 sides to show how different the wood looked. And one of the bottom to show how the burl enveloped the trunk. It has a lot of bark left on and a couple small voids. The form is just a fairly straight forward southwest Native American pottery shape. But the wood definitely does the talking on this one.

[alex carey]

WOW that is seriously the coolest burl I've ever seen. Excellent job.

[Norris Randall]

WOW ! Fantastic!

[Mike McAfee]

Unbelievably cool Curt! How was it to turn?

MMc

[charlie knighton]

very nice, glad you kept it together

[John Keeton]

Curt, you made a great decision on where you stopped on the outside - leaving all of the matrix of bark and dark areas makes this piece! Just a very nice look. And, I would think the added weight from the thickness matches the look. When I look at this piece, I don't get an immediate impression of fragility so the extra weight would be expected.

[Roger Bullock]

Nice looking bowl Curt. The southwest Native American pottery form really works IMHO. With all the color, it reminds me of an ancient artifact that got too close to the fire and has been buried for years.
If you were to name this one, I think I would choose a name to reflect that theme. I've read in other threads how adding a name can guide the viewers perception of a finished piece (your text sure did). So what would you name this piece?

[Mike Stephens]

Love the contrast between the light areas and the dark bark. Great piece.

[George Guadiane]

The nicest piece of burl that I have seen in years and as well done as anyone could do...

Just beautiful and fascinating. I ate breakfast looking at the images.

[Rob Cunningham]

Beautiful work Curt.

[Baxter Smith]

That is a very different /neat piece of burl with a great shape! Well done!

[Donny Lawson]

WOW!!!!!!!!!! That burl is one to be proud of.It turned out GREAT.
Donny

[Frank Van Atta]

An exceptionally beautiful piece of burl, and a nice piece of turning. Just send the thing to me and I'll be happy to complete the hollowing. :D

[Ray Bell]

Beautiful Curt. Something anybody would be proud to have in their home.

[Robert McGowen]

Really nice, Curt! The white area almost looks like it was painted onto the burl.

[Paul Douglass]

That is an awesome piece! I wonder what cause that growth. We have lots of scrub oak in our state, and I have never noticed anything like that. Maybe our scrub oak is not the same. Or, maybe I never looked hard enough when I was deer hunting in it. Maybe I need to start "deer hunting" again!

[Steve Schlumpf]

Curt - you already know I love the Southwestern style of Native American pottery - so the form on this one is spot-on! Sure is some amazing wood! Reminds me of snowflake obsidian! Beautiful grain patterns!

Hope you enter this in one of your competitions!

Thanks for sharing!

[bob svoboda]

Absolutely Gorgeous!

[Curt Fuller]

Thanks all of you.


How was it to turn?

MMc
This was pretty nice wood to turn. It was still somewhat green so that softened up the torture of hollowing it. In fact it spent about an hour in the microwave at 2 minutes per session to dry it out before I did the final turning and sanding. The bark areas made me a little nervous, some parts are all bark. It has most all of a 2 oz bottle of CA on the bark.


I've read in other threads how adding a name can guide the viewers perception of a finished piece (your text sure did). So what would you name this piece?
I can't ever think of names but I'm thinking of putting this in a statewide art show and they always want to know the name of the piece. I usually just put something like "oak vase", not very creative or artsy. I'm open to all suggestions.


That is an awesome piece! I wonder what cause that growth. We have lots of scrub oak in our state, and I have never noticed anything like that. Maybe our scrub oak is not the same. Or, maybe I never looked hard enough when I was deer hunting in it. Maybe I need to start "deer hunting" again!
Scrub oak is everywhere here too and I think it's the same stuff I've seen in eastern Washington. But like you, I've never seen a burl quite like this one. I'll keep my eyes open a little wider now though.


Curt - you already know I love the Southwestern style of Native American pottery - so the form on this one is spot-on! Sure is some amazing wood! Reminds me of snowflake obsidian! Beautiful grain patterns!

Steve, I've always liked this style too but never really thought about it as being a Native American pottery style until you started referring to some of your hollowforms as such. Thanks for the inspiration. The pattern in the wood reminds me of a Bev Doolittle painting. I keep looking for a paint horse or something hiding in the camouflage.

[Bill Bolen]

Lovely piece Curt. I just love that "lace like" grain. Never seen anything like it...Bill...

[David E Keller]

Fantastic! One of the most interesting burls I've seen. I love the simple form that lets the wood shine through.

This is definitely going in my 'favorites' folder.

[James Roberts]

Awesome burl Curt, and you did a great job on it as usual.

[Jim Slovik]

Curt,
That's awesome. It was fun to see it take shape through your earlier posting too.
Jim

[Robert Snowden]

Outstanding burl and work.

[Roland Martin]

A very impressive piece Curt. I've also never seen a burl with those colors, patterns and character. IMO, you could'nt have done this burl any more justice. "Scrub Art":)

[Greg Ketell]

That is really cool!!

I can just imagine what was going through your mind as you turned that beast: "Oh My _______ it is going to blow apart at any moment" each time a tool touched it. YIKES!

But you did stellar work and it came out great!!

[Matt Owen]

Great piece, Curt! You did a nice job with a good looking piece of wood.

Matt

[Lionel Mercier]

Stunning wood, very nice shape...
You honoured this burl !
Friendly, Lionel.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Wow that is absolutely beautiful Curt.

[Mark Burge]

Okay, after reading your more recent post. I think this is art! Great job.