Spalted maple burl NE bowl

[Bill Grumbine]

Last pic for now. This one is a piece of maple burl from a huge tree that was mostly maple burl I harvested a while ago. I have posted pics of other pieces from this tree in the past, as has my good friend Dominic Greco.

<img src="http://www.enter.net/~ultradad/spaltedmapleburl01.jpg">

Maple burl, spalted a bit, with so many eyes that it would be very difficult to try and count them. Again, I took this along with me to my finishing class for finishing advice, since I was going anyway. I ended up French polishing this one, and then cutting it back a bit with some steel wool. It needs waxing for its final finish, but here it is so far.

<img src="http://www.enter.net/~ultradad/spaltedmapleburl02.jpg">

This is a shot looking down. Size is 11" in diameter by 4" high, by 5/16" thick. I like the way the French polish came up on this, so I am going to use this on some more of the burls and other things I turn that I do not want to put on the buffing wheel.

Thanks for taking a look.

Bill

[Jim Becker]

Yum! That's a real beauty, Bill, both in form and material.

[doug webb]

Beautiful. Natural edge and spalting......What more could you want?

[Bernie Weishapl]

Beautiful bowl Bill. Natural edge, spalting and the wood jumps out at you. Thanks for sharing.

[Jim Dunn]

Yeah, that piece of wood would have been in the stove around here. I'll pay closer attention to the wood pile from now on. Just real nice.

[Corey Hallagan]

Nice bill, that that is an incredible looking bowl, the wood and NE etc. Very nice.

Corey

[Ernie Nyvall]

Hey... I have this guy's video... reckon I'll be doing this sort of work in short order!!!:rolleyes:

Really nice Bill.

Ernie

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Bill.....I don't know what it is about figured wood but I sure do enjoy looking at it! Nicely done!

[Glenn Hodges]

Bill, I am glad you were able to get this piece of wood because I really like what you did with it.

[Bill Grumbine]

Thanks guys! I have a core from this one, and several more pieces lying about the shop from the same chunk-o-wood that I need to get to. The variations in this tree are something to see. I posted a picture here a while ago of a hollow form I did from the same tree, but it looks completely different in the color of the wood, etc.

Bill

[Pete Harbin]

Wow! That's a beaut!

Pete

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

Evening Bill. I have a question about the beautiful NE form.

I see a lot of them with the VERY rough edges like this one. The tree isn't That rough, is it. How do you folks get it to look that way.

Bruce

[Jim Becker]

Bruce...Bill made that from a burl cap. Burls are often extremely "featured" when it comes to little pokey things sticking up and that is the effect you are seeing near the edges of the piece. The outside is not even close to smooth as it might be on a non-figured, non-burl hunk of trunk.

[Bill Grumbine]

Evening Bill. I have a question about the beautiful NE form.

I see a lot of them with the VERY rough edges like this one. The tree isn't That rough, is it. How do you folks get it to look that way.

Bruce

Hi Bruce

Like Jim says, that is the edge of the tree, and yes, it is that rough! That is the beauty of many burls. Each one of those spikes is a little branch starting to grow. Many times they will grow to the point where they are covered with leaves, and that was the case with this tree. The power company had come along and sawn all the branches off this tree save one, and the owner wanted it removed. Because of a very wet summer, it stood for a whole year before we got to it, and when I arrived to start harvesting it, I barely recognized it, as it had sprouted thousands of leaves as it began to regrow its branches.

Often the bark will conceal the roughness of the wood, although it will appear bumpy and rough. The real excitement is peeling the bark back and discovering what lies underneath.

Bill

[Mike Ramsey]

Very Nice Bill!! Question? Do you power sand things like this or just
by hand. Your finishing cuts are so good that you don't need to sand!?

[Bill Grumbine]

Hi Mike

I power sand them both on and off the lathe, with the lathe running and stopped. I will even put the sanding disk in the lathe and hold the bowl against it! Not only that, I usually start at a lower grit than a lot of people do, often at 80. I usually finish up at 320 or 400 with a Grex air powered random orbit sander.

I suppose that I could work on my finishing cuts, but I do not know of anyone who can get away without sanding, and I have had that discussion with one of the biggest names in turning. I'll say more in a PM.

Bill

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

Thanks Bill. I don't know why, but I missed the fact that the ones like this are burls. Haven't had the pleasure of playing with one of those yet. Some day!................If I ever find one that I can have.

Bruce

[Ed Scolforo]

Another beauty, Bill!