Log in

View Full Version : Sawdust fellowship ... and a little box elder burl gloat



Tim Rinehart
10-15-2011, 9:33 PM
What to better bring a group of turners together than some sawdust fellowship! No pic of fellow creeker Tony Pridmore...but he was there too with his son. I was kinda surprised seeing him after the last few weekends of cutting up his parents massive silver maple.
210241
Fantastic weather + BBQ + Sawdust flying was on course today at SawmillNC in Iron Station, NC, northwest of Charlotte.
Kyle Edwards hosted this event before, and this is my first time for the BBQ event...not my first time to see Kyle about some wood.

Kyle has some fantastic flitch lumber, blanks and...burls... and really has a great variety of all sorts of wood and types...curly, fiddleback, instrument grade...he has it too. Anyone in the region who needs wood for a special project owes themselves to call this guy and see what he can do. Quality is tops and quite reasonable.

I was up here a few weeks back, and saw a very big box elder tree there that was enveloped with burls, so I was curious if he had got to putting the chain to this big log yet. Kyle cut an 8 foot section and slabbed it out and can be seen in this pic.
210235
I was very interested in the base of this tree, where the combination of root and burl together spells wood magic. I took the LOML with me, and she was sitting out in our truck till she saw me mulling around this piece.:eek: She came over...and approved...she's the true beauty in this pic and to right of the saw cut is the part of the box elder root burl I selected. ;)
210240
A little fight getting this piece cut...and it wasn't to be split at last section, no straight grain I guess.

Safely in my truck. 210239

I got this massive piece onto a pair of sawhorses without killing myself, powerwashed it, and look at the colors and eyes on this!
210237 210236
I was very surprised by how solid this root ball was, with very few big voids or mud holes.

I mulled around this piece for about 30 minutes or more before figuring out the best way to harvest it for hollow forms, primarily. I wanted to keep sections that would have a combination of the red, the burl, and some beautiful grey spalting, as much as possible.
210238
I started by cutting it into two end sections about 10-12" wide and a center section 8" wide. In the end, I had 2 big blocs between 10" sq and another 12" sq, and 4 additional sections each 8" square. Theres a few small other irregular pieces also...but near zero waste from this. I'm very happy with the yield and results. For size comparison, that's a 6" faceplate in the picture.
210234
Got everything anchorsealed by end of day as dusk approached.

May be a few weeks before I get to one of the bigger pieces of this...tomorrow I'm building deck railing. Beautiful day today of BBQ and sawdust fellowship!

charlie knighton
10-15-2011, 9:41 PM
Tim, how does one get on the mailing list for this event? great piece of wood your burl, and that fiddleback plank is beautiful, i am pretty much envious

will Kyle Edwards be in greensboro?

Tim Rinehart
10-15-2011, 10:13 PM
Tim, how does one get on the mailing list for this event? great piece of wood your burl, and that fiddleback plank is beautiful, i am pretty much envious

will Kyle Edwards be in greensboro?
Hi Charlie,
There were folks there from several different clubs in the Carolinas and I think if you say something to your local club president/secretary, just have them get in touch with the Charlotte club secretary for any future event notifications. That's how word got around to some other clubs outside our immediate area.
I tried seeing if Kyle would have interest in being a vendor at the symposium this year, but I think he's going to hold off this time, but I think he plans to come up and catch some demos on Friday.
Be sure to look for me...I'll be working the CWT room for several demos.

John Keeton
10-15-2011, 10:18 PM
Tim, that is a fantastic haul!!! Beautiful stuff - and, I look forward to seeing what comes of it.

Baxter Smith
10-15-2011, 10:40 PM
Great pictures Tim! Even greater wood!

Harry Robinette
10-15-2011, 10:53 PM
Here's another one with beautiful Box Elder and I get blaa no color. I guess I'm just not doing something right.
Nice wood you got there Tim.

Kathy Marshall
10-16-2011, 2:07 AM
Great haul Tim! That's some great looking wood and it sounds like you had a great time acquiring it!

Jack Mincey
10-16-2011, 7:00 AM
Great haul of wood and looks like a great day all around. You should post the event next year a few weeks ahead of time so that more creekers in the area might be able to make the BBQ. I'm only 3 hours away and would try to make it if open to turners out of the area.
Jack

Bob Rotche
10-16-2011, 7:25 AM
You really got some beautiful pieces of wood. I'm always interested to see how poeple attack a big chunk like that to get the best out of it. I find that very challenging and probably screw it up more often than not. Well done! I will be at the NC symposium and will look for you. Would love to meet some fellow creekers!

Bernie Weishapl
10-16-2011, 10:23 AM
Great looking wood. Looks and sounds like a great time was had.

Tony Pridmore
10-16-2011, 12:14 PM
Hey Tim,

Great pictures. I'm in the top photo, second from the left. Looks like I was checking whether there was a cow patty under my boot. My son and I had a great time. We thought we weren't going to make it because we stopped on the way and had a devil of a time getting the old truck to start again.

Many thanks to Kyle Edwards for putting on this event. It was our first trip out to his sawmill, though I have purchased flat stock from him in the distant past. Kyle's a great guy to deal with. Here's a link to his website: http://www.sawmillnc.com/.

That's an impressive yield from the root ball. I can't wait to see what you make of it.

-Tony