Rust Galls?

[Russell Neyman]

Has anyone ever turned any of these burl-like growths?
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My forestry friends call them "rust galls" and I picked up several, mostly 8-inches diameter, on my visit to Montana. I was skeptical they's be worth the bother, but sampled one and they're quite dense and very figured. They're certainly turnable.

The first two images above are the actual items I picked up; the third one is a sample pic from the internet.

[Adam Petersen]

;) Never turned one and wouldn't bother. If you want to get rid of them I'll PM you my address.

In all seriousness, is that the color or did you put water on it to pop the grain? If I were you I'd definitely give it a go. Then again I'll try almost anything on the lathe, so I guess it depends on what you do with your work and how much time you have.

[Sid Matheny]

Since it is caused by a fungal disease I would take extra care working it. Looks like some wonderful color.

[Russell Neyman]

That's the magic of working with wood, isn't it? You try something new and you discover something no one has experienced before.

This particular tree has several more of these growths, and I'm hoping they'll get larger after time. I'll leave them with hopes for the future.

[Russell Neyman]

Since it is caused by a fungal disease I would take extra care working it. Looks like some wonderful color.
Cough, cough.

Seriously, Sid, much of the "figured" and "spalted" wood is technically fungal in nature. Common sense goes far here; if you have a reaction, even a minor one, wear a mask, if it persists, quit. I'm lucky. I rarely have a reaction.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Beautiful wood Russell! Looking forward to seeing what you turn out of it!

[Chance Raser]

What species of tree, and where at in MT?

[Russell Neyman]

What species of tree, and where at in MT?

A pedestrian-looking pine tree just north of Missoula. My brother-in-law is a career forestry department employee and says they're fairly common, although not this large.

[Dave Fritz]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine-pine_gall_rust

Is it full of pitch?

[Randy Red Bemont]

Cool wood. Looking forward to seeing a turning.

Red

[Russell Neyman]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine-pine_gall_rust

Is it full of pitch?

Nope. And since it's pine, you'd expect that, right? I'll turn these few and post the results.

[Russell Neyman]

Finished this one today with the largest of the rust galls, ending up with a 5x7 inch piece that required lots of filler and glue. The walls are about 3/16th" thick. The pine sap
really filled the sandpaper in seconds.

This only has a sealer coat on it; I'll sand and add several coats of lacquer and post better pictures later.

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[Len Mullin]

Russell, would it be possible for you to repost these pictures with a different background? The way they are posted with that background, makes it hard to get a clear picture of the dish. To me, they look to be shimmering or vibrating because of that background.
Len

[robert baccus]

This gall is a "fusifornm rust gall" very common on southern pines, especially Slash pine. Responsible for millions of $'s in damage in the south. Usually has bright yellow spores in the spring. Always narly inside and dripping rosin on the outside. Hope someone can find a good use for them.

[Russell Neyman]

Wrapped this up yesterday. Only a Beall polish matte finish because I thought anything shinier would look out of place. The walls are surprisingly thin-- about one-eighth of an inch all except at the bottom -- which is thinner than I intended. When I started with this, I really didn't expect it to go very far, but here it is. Just one of those pleasant surprised woodturners stumble into now and then.

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