Turning Burnt Wood

[Marco Cecala]

We have a home in Yarnell, AZ; the recent site of the forest fire that lead to the death of 19 brave Hotshots.

I have been asked by the gallery that represents my work to turn some items from trees that were burned in the fire. Mostly live oak with a mix of other hardwoods.

My questions have to deal with what to expect from the wood. Anyone have experience with this? I'm wondering if some burnt areas can remain as rims of vases or bowls.

Any help will be appreciated. Thanks.

[Dale Gillaspy]

It's possible. Depends on how charred through some of the trees are. I've seen some beautiful bowls that left most of the charred area and basically turned a bowl out from the center.

That gives me an idea. I am in Glendale, and I am going to be turning some trophies for a benefit golf tournament at the Prescott Country Club. I would love to get ahold of some of that wood and turn them from that. How special would that be? Can we talk about getting some wood?

[Doug Herzberg]

This came up here a few weeks ago. Our fire was about two weeks before yours. I gathered some wood and looked it over. The stuff I have so far is mostly covered with soot and it leaves a big mess. The more deeply charred stuff is charcoal on the outside and I think it would have to be stabilized to turn it if you want to keep the burned wood on the rim. My project is on hold right now, so if you get any ideas, please post them.

I was referred to a member of our local turning club because he did some work after a similar fire last year. He missed the meeting, so I haven't talked to him yet. I will pass along anything I learn.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the 19. My wife was giving hugs of gratitude to Arizona hotshots who came here to save our home and neighborhood just a few weeks ago. Not the same crew, but it's all one big family in the wildfire community.

[Steve Mawson]

I did some bowls out of Cedar from a fire close to Valentine, NE. Fire was last year and I turned the bowls this spring. The outside of the timber was black but the char did not go very far into the log. There was not near the moisture that I normally find in fresh logs. I turned to finish thickness and last I heard they had not cracked. I did leave some of the black on a couple sides of some of the bowls, owners of the timber really liked that. You have to be careful sanding as you can spread the black everywhere. I sealed some of the charred areas before sanding and seemed to get along ok. Hope that helps.

[Marco Cecala]

Thanks for the info. Time to get to work!

[Al Wasser]

Realize that FRESHLY burned wood from a tree or large shrub is not dry wood. It will be fairly moist although not as wet as a tree cut from a domestic situation. The fuel moisture in the trees/shrubs was low before the fire or it would probably not burned if the fuel moisture was normal