Turning Pine

[Rich Aldrich]

My dad is in logging but mostly pine. He found a small burl that split in a couple of pieces. I think I could do something with it, but he didnt bring it home. He will get it Monday.

The real question I have is what about setting the pitch? Do you rough it out and have it kiln dried? I could make a small solar kiln that would work this time of year.

[Donny Lawson]

I've got a couple of knots from pines but haven't done anything with them yet because of the high content of sap in it.Sap is a big pain to clean up with pine so it may be quite a while before I get to them.
Donny

[Art Kelly]

I just turned four little pine (sand or sugar pine from N. Michigan) for stoppers or beer tap handles.

They sanded OK, but quickly clogged the paper. Once, I got carried away, and when I stopped for a look, the surface of the burl was "coated" with pitch. (It's the left-most one in the pic.) It cleaned right up with steel wool and mineral spirits.

I coated them with Mylands nitro-cellulose sanding sealer to complete the steel-wool treatment, then Beal treatment--tripoli and carnuba only.

In the pic, the left-most one has no finish applied, the others have Mylands, but not steel-wooled yet.

$0.02,
Art