Maple burl bowl with process (pics)

[Bill Grumbine]

Greetings all

I have not been posting much lately, mainly because things have been extremely busy here. But at last I got something made on the lathe! And, in the spirit of killing two birds with one stone, I am fulfilling a promise I made a while ago.

Several months ago I posted pictures of a large sugar maple burl that was given to me by my friend the tree guy. I had to be right on the spot, since there were others circling about waiting for that part of the tree to be cut! When I posted a picture of it here and a couple of other places, I got several requests to detail the process I used to decide how to cut it up and turn it.

The first pic is the smaller half of the burl laid out on the chopping block. We had to cut it in half on site just because it was too heavy for its size and shape to get it in the truck with the manpower we had (and we had a lot!). So that part had already been decided. We had cut through the part where there was little or no burl to be seen. Now I had it marked with one of my plastic circles. This particluar one was 18"!

Sadly, it was not to be. In the second pic I am rounding it with the chainsaw. As I cut around the circle, I ended up trimming it here and there to remove non burled wood and voids. This coupled with getting it round on the lathe to its best appearance yielded a somewhat smaller bowl.

Burls are always a crapshoot. You never know what is going to be inside. This one proved to have some beautiful wood, but also some serious flaws. I got a very nice core out of it, but the core has a huge void right along where the outside edge would be. It reaches all the way to the center. I will probably get something out of it, but nothing like I had hoped.

The finished product is 12" and a hair in diameter, and 6" high at its highest point. I left it 7/16" thick to give it some weight, and to keep those bark inclusions from causing it to self destruct!

Read on to the next post for the exciting conclusion! :D (I ran out of pictures per post)

Bill

[Bill Grumbine]

(continued from the last post)

The final picture is a view looking down from above. You can see the largest inclusion at the rear of the bowl. There is one more in the lower right side that is almost as big, but does not run down as far. Then there are bunches of little ones.

It is finished with Bush Oil and buffed. I started out buffing it by hand. I waxed it and then was called away to run my daughter to a meeting. By the time I got back, the wax was good and hard, and no amount of elbow grease was budging it, so I got out the buffing wheels and contented myself with picking out lint.

Thanks for taking a look, and if you were one of those waiting for the process, I would be glad to answer any other questions you have. This bowl was finished today, after a person who collects my stuff saw it. She saw it and said, I want it, without even asking the price. It is going to GA with me, but it is already sold!

[Corey Hallagan]

That is an incredibley cool piece of wood Bill. Excellent piece as usual Bill!

Corey

[Ernie Nyvall]

Another beauty Bill. Thanks for the pictorial.

Say, I noticed the bark is gone from the edge. I think in this case with the natural bumps in the wood edge, it looks better without the bark.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Excellent piece Bill. Very nice job.

[Gary DeWitt]

That's one beautiful piece of wood, and of course well handled and finished. Thanks for the pics.
BTW, thanks also for the pics on your site re:harvesting wood for bowls. I send people there from here all the time.

[Dario Octaviano]

Bill,

Thanks! As always your pics and tutorials are very helpful and informative.

As I said on the other forum...I love these NE bowls.

[Bill Grumbine]

Thanks guys! I appreciate your taking the time to respond.

Bill

[Tyler Howell]

Bravo, Bravo. Well done as always. when I grow up!!!:cool:

[Frank Chaffee]

Greetings Bill,
And thank you for taking time to check in and post another of your terrific turning projects for us.

You have truly developed the wood hunters eye; able to see, or at least make a pretty darn accurate guess as to what lies within the bark.

Woof, woof!

But regarding your statement as to why that little chuck had to be halved to load it into your truck… this is where I become confused. Now I am a few pounds lighter than you, but I would have had no problem loading such a piece of wood into my truck, alone, provided that it fit within my topper. Fact is, the heavier they are, the easier they load, ‘cuz I am less tempted to pick them up.

Anyhow Bill, it’s good to hear from you, and thanks for the continuing inspiration.

Frank

[Jim Becker]

Yum!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Bill Grumbine]

But regarding your statement as to why that little chuck had to be halved to load it into your truck… this is where I become confused. Now I am a few pounds lighter than you, but I would have had no problem loading such a piece of wood into my truck, alone, provided that it fit within my topper. Fact is, the heavier they are, the easier they load, ‘cuz I am less tempted to pick them up.

Frank

Hi Frank

Thanks for your very kind words. Here is a picture of the little chunks as they came right off the tree. They were soaking wet heavy, since it had been cut about 30 minutes before I arrived. The bowl was turned from the smaller of the two, and there are still some pieces left for some smaller turnings. I have not yet started on the big one yet! The (little) rough chunk by itself after drying out for a little while, say three months, still weighed over 100 lbs.

Bill

[John Miliunas]

Hey Bill, looks like your Poolewood's got a little sawdust on it there! :D Thanks for the mini-lesson. That piece is totally awesome! Appreciate you sharing the experience with us. :) :cool:

[Rik Rickerson]

Another beauty Bill. Thanks for the pictorial.

Say, I noticed the bark is gone from the edge. I think in this case with the natural bumps in the wood edge, it looks better without the bark.
Supports his claim, in his video, that "bald is beautiful". Gorgeous bowl Bill!

-Rik

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Rik.....it's not a claim.....it's a statement of fact......I beginning to like bald better each day myself!

[Tom Sherman]

I can't testify to the bald thing but I'll bet that turning muscle got one good work out. Way to go Bill

[Rik Rickerson]

Rik.....it's not a claim.....it's a statement of fact......I beginning to like bald better each day myself!
I stand corrected. :D

[Jerry Ingraham]

Thanks for the post Bill. What a beautiful pair of bowls!

[Bob Hallowell]

Bill That turned out very nice!

Bob

[Bryan Berguson]

I've never been even a little bit interested in turning... until I found this site. I'm afraid that I'm getting sucked into this. I must resist. I must resist. I must...

You folks make some really beautiful pieces btw. Anybody who receives these as gifts are VERY lucky.

Bryan

[Joash Boyton]

I've never been even a little bit interested in turning... until I found this site. I'm afraid that I'm getting sucked into this. I must resist. I must resist. I must...

You folks make some real beautiful pieces btw. Anybody who receives these as gifts are REALLY lucky.

Bryan
gifts????:eek::p

[Bryan Berguson]

gifts????:eek::p

Is that a bad word?:)

Bryan

[Bill Grumbine]

Not a bad word at all Bryan, although I myself am somewhat mercenary about this stuff. I sell my work for a living. In this case though, the bowl was a gift, to the tree service man who gives me my wood. He was somewhat taken aback when I gave it to him. He had wanted a bowl from this burl, but he did not expect the main bowl, and tried to refuse it. I told him it was his for his very generous treatment of me and my wood needs. Besides, I still have the other half, which is even bigger!

Thanks guys, for the comments!

Bill

[Mark Cothren]

Good stuff, Bill... and that's a sweeeet bowl!