bowl 5, first burl

[Dan Beckman]

Here is the first item I turned from the slabs of walnut burl I received recently. I started out with a slab 10" dia. by 3" thick. There was a lot of rot and worm holes in the slab, and I kept turning to get through most of it to the point where the bowl ended up 6" dia. by 1.5" high. Still has natural faults on the rim and quite a few worm holes remaining. (Bowl wouldn't hold much soup!). This wood was so dry and had so much rot that I had to wear a mask because I was generating mostly dust and very tiny chips as I turned. I finished it with salad bowl oil. Your CC are welcome.
The finish is fairly dull. Is there a finish I can add to bring out the burl grain?
I still have some circular sanding marks, especially on the inside bottom. I sanded on the lathe from 80 to 320 grit. How do I eliminate these sanding rings? Would power sanding on the lathe help?
There is so much to learn but I'm having fun on the journey!!
Sorry about the poor photos, I need to learn more about that also, but at this point I'm more interested in
the turning!



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[Mike Cruz]

Dan, I know that you realize the pics aren't great, but better pics will give us a much better idea of what we are seeing. Even if the lighting isn't perfect, in focus would make a big difference. From what I see in these, it looks good, but that's about all I can say...

[Dan Beckman]

Mike, you're right. I got ahead of myself by posting those photos. Thanks for the feedback.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Dan - turning burls can be challenging when you have to deal with punky wood but it looks like you managed it! In answer to your sanding question, power sanding works! You can sand by hand but the key is you have to keep moving the paper or you create sanding rings. With power sanding, you also have to keep the sander moving or will cause different set of problems of removing too much wood in just one area!