Burls...and some questions

[Richard Madden]

I don't have much experience with burls, I think one Madrone burl hollowform that was a store bought, heavily waxed piece. I picked up a few yesterday on our way home from Branson and I'm wondering about proper handling and storage, so advice would be appreciated. Here's some pictures;


http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh17/RickM1_album/005-9.jpg


http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh17/RickM1_album/003-10.jpg


http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh17/RickM1_album/006-9.jpg


http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh17/RickM1_album/007-7.jpg


The first two pics are Big Leaf Maple that were power washed about 1-1/2 months ago according to the person I got them from. the second two pics are walnut that is pretty green. Do I need to seal these with Anchorseal till I get around to using them? I've been doing some reading on the internet, and one person said he stores burls in water with a little bleach added. So, what would you recommend? Are there any websites that might help? Thanks for any help you can provide.

[David E Keller]

I haven't done a lot of burl prep myself, but I would consider sealing the cut face of the blocks. If you use any kind of wax on the natural edge, you may have trouble getting it off or finishing the edge down the road.

I'm not so sure that I wouldn't walk away from the computer and out to the shop so that I could start turning them now!:D

[Ray Bell]

"I'm not so sure that I wouldn't walk away from the computer and out to the shop so that I could start turning them now"!

I apologize for the hi-jack, but how would you start turning something like this. Would you mount a face plate to the flat side, and make that the bottom of the vessel?

[James Combs]

I would say to at least anchor seal all the cut surfaces ASAP. I cut up a fairly large and green walnut burl a couple-3 months ago and anchor sealed it but it still did quite a bit of checking.

[John Keeton]

Richard, the several BLM burls that I have bought were all unsealed and dry. They show a few very small cracks - not much more than what yours already show. JD is right on his walnut burl - you need to get it sealed well, and quickly!
I apologize for the hi-jack, but how would you start turning something like this. Would you mount a face plate to the flat side, and make that the bottom of the vessel?Ray, the most figure in a burl is on the outside surface, and so you need to plan the turning accordingly. If I was going to make use of the NE, I would glue on a waste tenon to the flat bottom, and chuck it with that. Depending on what I was going to do, I may trim it some with a bandaw - or not, depending on the conception.

Once you have the tenon on the bottom, you could then turn a flat spot and tenon on the top, flip it, and turn a bowl with all of the figure in the bottom of the bowl. But, you would lose most of the NE in doing that - trade offs!!

[Ray Bell]

Thanks John. What do you use for glue when you use the sacrificial tenons?

[Jack Mincey]

If you have room in a freezer, put the wood in a plastic bag and place it in the freezer. It will keep for years and not dry out, or even change in color.
Happy Turning,
Jack

[John Keeton]

Thanks John. What do you use for glue when you use the sacrificial tenons?Medium CA usually. I have used Titebond, but the CA works fine.

[Richard Madden]

Thanks for the advice. All cut surfaces are Anchorsealed. Now, to figure out how to get the most out of these...

[Art Kelly]

(Ray Bell) ...how would you start turning something like this. Would you mount a face plate to the flat side, and make that the bottom of the vessel?

That's sorta what I did for this red-oak burl, but the bottom is the outer (lateral) side of the burl: Flattened the tree (medial) side with a chainsaw, hot-melt glued a home-made wooden faceplate to it, turned a very minimal tenon, flipped it and turned it. It was oblong, so I could leave NE in two places. The only surface prep to the NE parts was with a fine wire-wheel on a drill press. 7" x 4" MOL. Natural Danish and Beal. (The wood had been curing forever and is brick hard, including the black spalting.) The red on the one photo is from a sunlit red rug in the room. Sorry.:o

[Ray Bell]

Very nice Art. Thank you.