help

[cal thelen]

Okay guys first off I want to thank everyone for everything I have learned in the short time i have been a member of this forum. But now I need more guidance. Today a vendor came into work and says I Have a piece of wood out in my car for you. He thinks its Yellow birch. It Measures roughly 18" end to end and about 14 inches diameter. He thinks its been sitting on the wood pile aobut 2 years. It has some checking and cracking on the ends but nothing really big. Now my question is how to procede? do I cut it in half? do i mount it end to end so grain is perendicular with the lathe bed or do I mount it with the grain running side to side. Not even sure what i want turn out of it mayb some bowl or possibly a vase. My lathe is 12 X16 any guidance greatly appreciated. thank you
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[John Hart]

Hmm...well, I'm looking at two burls, side-by-side for a total of 14 inches in depth....so to cut down the middle gives you two 7" deep burls about 10" in diameter or so....IF I'm reading this right.

If that's the case, that sounds pretty good to me. After you get a fresh cut, it'll want to start checking again, so you might want to seal it. I see lots of possibilities. Nice score Cal

[David DeCristoforo]

Split it in half right through the center. You could turn it whole but with the heart in the middle of your piece, strange things could happen! T turned a whole cherry burl that had grown on a branch and that piece had the "pith" right through the middle and it "turned" out fine... Kind of a crap shoot...

[Bob Bergstrom]

First I'd power wash or scrub as much of the dirt and junk off it. In the second photo it appears to have a branch socket or void of some kind, so I would say the opposite side of the void would be the best wood. I would rip it down the pith leaving the void on the secondary side. I like to have the bowl without voids if possible. Some like to have some peak-a-boo holes. Burls are are a guess and deal with it proposition. Sometimes you hit it super great and others are just great. Burl wood always stands out no matter which way you cut it.

[David E Keller]

I'd get rid of the splits and checks then split it through the pith with one lump on each half. The best figure is likely to be closest to the bark, so orient your forms to highlight that area. I'm one that likes the 'peekaboo' forms, so I'd likely consider a hollowform or two with the top of the form coming from the outer part of the burl. Don't forget to share your finished pieces!