Cherry Burl Form

[Nate Davey]

At our last turning club, the kid that owns the saw mill had some cherry burls in the back of his truck. When I asked how much he wanted for them he said they had been back there for a couple of months and now one wanted them. He charged me $3 for each of the two. Here is what I made out of the first. This one had it all, birdseye, rays, worm tracks, knots and spultz. After getting it done and taking the pics I'm not really happy with the form. I hollowed most of it, with my homemade handheld bars, through a 3/4" hole, then, one seconds in attention and caught the edge on the way out. The bottom of the form is where the branch came in and I didn't want to detract fro the beautiful figure on the top, so used a piece of very old cherry for the collar, wanted to try something a little different there as well. Comments and criticism appreciated.

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[David E Keller]

Man, you must be living right! $3 cherry burls?!? You can tell the kid with the mill that I'll give him five bucks apiece for them, and I'll pay shipping... Something tells me he's never gonna get that message!

I like this piece a lot! The form is a bit different but in a good way! I can't count the number of times I've struggled to hollow something through a tiny hole only to end up with a two inch collar at the end of the session... FWIW, I think the collar works nicely, but I kind of wonder what a little upturn near the opening might have done to the piece. For pieces like this with a lot going on in the wood itself, I struggle to judge the fairness of the curve... Seems like the grain and voids plays tricks with my eyes depending on how the piece is viewed. Looks like you nailed the curve on this one! I'm looking forward to seeing the next three dollars worth of wood!

[Ken Hill]

I thought one of the attractions to burls was the voids and gnarly stuff inside? Looks like you scored and turned a fine piece!

[Jay Rasmussen]

Beautiful work Nate!

[Tim Rinehart]

Nate, you got a fine deal on some big chunks and the form works for me also. It's different, no straight lines or hard edges. If I were to do anything, I am a little uncomfortable with the very small foot, perhaps some sort of stand for it?? Not sure, definitely don't want to lose or distract from beautiful cherry burl! Way to go and fine save with the collar. Be sure to bring it along next week!

[Baxter Smith]

Sounds like a great deal on those burls and you made the most of it Nate! Looking forward to seeing what you come up with for the other one!

[Steve Vaughan]

That's a nice job on the whole piece, but that's a really great way to take care of the hole. I like it as is, but a touch of texturing on it might look pretty cool too. Great idea and no one's gonna know unless you tell 'em.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Beautiful piece Nate out of some outstanding burl.

[John Keeton]

Excellent save! I like what you have done, but may prefer a little lower shoulder and a bit larger base. Great piece, though, and the wood is beautiful!

[Michelle Rich]

looks to be worth the $3 :-) I rarely like such a tiny foot, but this seems just right. Nice turning

[Nate Davey]

A few people mentioned that the cherry collar was a little light or not contrasting enough for the burl, so I thought I would post a pic now that it has darkened to see what you all thought of it now. Here are two with different exposures. Thanks for looking.
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[Steve Schlumpf]

Nate - nice work on saving the burl! I'm not 100% on the top of the form... just seems to flat to me but I do think your use of Cherry for a recessed collar works well.

[Rich Aldrich]

Nice burls. I really like working with cherry. It looks like this was a bit challenging.

[Joe Watson]

I have a tendency of checking peoples work/images first and then going back and reading what they say... when i first seen this i thought "why the collar".
I think the darker collar looks better, but would have to agree with Steve Vaughan, texturing might be the trick. I dig the shape, it does not look like "another pretty HF made with cool wood" - it stands on its own.