Some type of burl

[Bob Bergstrom]

One of my woodturning buddies gave me a burl to turn. . Looked and turned a lot like elm burl. I centered it between centers, trimmed away as much of the non burl wood as I could with my electric chainsaw. Turned the exterior, reversed it and tighted it into a chuck. I set up my coring system and remove enough of the interior to turn a smaller bowl. Cut the inside with my bowl gouge. Finished with “home brew danish oil. It measures about 11” across and 6” wide by 4” deep. It is about 5/16” thick.

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[mike ash]

Bob - I was going to say you've got your hands on some Big Leaf Maple (BLM), but you had some hints that it might be from South America. I've included a couple of pics of one of my BLM bowls that I think has the same color/character as yours. I'll be watching to see other ideas!
Mike
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[Bob Bergstrom]

Bob - I was going to say you've got your hands on some Big Leaf Maple (BLM), but you had some hints that it might be from South America. I've included a couple of pics of one of my BLM bowls that I think has the same color/character as yours. I'll be watching to see other ideas!
Mike
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I just looked at one of my older elm burls and it does look like a dead ringer for the elm. It crubbled just like elm burl, so I pretty sure it is elm. I’ve turned big leaf burl. Beautiful wood. Much lighter in color than elm.

[John K Jordan]

I just looked at one of my older elm burls and it does look like a dead ringer for the elm. It crubbled just like elm burl, so I pretty sure it is elm. I’ve turned big leaf burl. Beautiful wood. Much lighter in color than elm.

Even if a burl, if it's elm you should see signs of the wavy bands of latewood pores with a low power magnifier (10x). Or sometimes from 3' away with elm!

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JKJ

[Len Mullin]

Bob, I have no idea what type of burl it is, but it sure turned into a beautiful bowl. I couldn't get a good look at the set-up you have, to level out the burl to make it more turnable. Could you get a couple of pics of it for me? I'm pretty sure I know what you did, but a couple of pics would remove any doubt of being correct in my thinking. Thanks.
Len

[Bob Bergstrom]

Bob, I have no idea what type of burl it is, but it sure turned into a beautiful bowl. I couldn't get a good look at the set-up you have, to level out the burl to make it more turnable. Could you get a couple of pics of it for me? I'm pretty sure I know what you did, but a couple of pics would remove any doubt of being correct in my thinking. Thanks.
Len


Len I just used a faceplate and drilled out 2 of the holes to hold 3/8” bolts. I’ve tried three, but they really need a flat surface to seat well. Using 2, I usually press the blank into the the bolt points to mark it, remove it and drill two holes deeper through the bark. On a half round I usually line them up with the grain at the highest point on the bark side of the blank. Here’s a couple pics.

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[Bob Bergstrom]

Today I mounted the piece I cored from the bigger one. Pretty easy compared to the other. I left it a little thicker so more spines are protruding at the rim. It’s about 6” x 4”. Needs a second coat of oil.
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Here they are side by side.
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[Mel Fulks]

Makes me think of the "big bang", never seen anything like it. Deserves some special lighting.

[Len Mullin]

Bob, thanks for the pics and quick reply to my inquiry,it is being done as I suspected. The only thing that I never thought of, was using nuts to lock the shim bolts in place. What I had thought you would have done, was to drill and tap the faceplate. The two bowls you got out of this burl, are absolutely amazing looking. Both of them are beautiful, it would be a shame to break up the set.
Len

[David Delo]

Stunning burl pieces and your execution is top shelf Bob.

[Roger Chandler]

Wow........what a couple of beauties! And you did a super nice job on the turning. This is eye candy for sure, and makes one hope they can come across something as nice as this some time or another. Bravo, Bob!

[robert baccus]

My money is on Ambrosia burl--look it up on google--is so a very special and expensive burl in very short supply--I,ve turned several over the years but not that big. I think it is the burl of the Comphor tree--Cimonnomiom genus. Grows in the SE Asia area--don't give this one to your MIL.