Malee Burl NE

[John Hart]

Howdy!
This is an old dried up piece of Mallee that I got from Berea Hardwoods a long time ago. There was no moisture in it. It sucked all the humidity out of the air and my skin dried up.:rolleyes: Hard as a rock....but I got through it. 6" diameter and 2-3" deep...finished with shellac/oil/DNA. Not too happy with the finish yet. I'll probably do a little more to it before buffing.

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[Mark Cothren]

Beautiful wood, John! You just can't beat the NE edge you get on those burls... the finish looks pretty good to me in the pics - if you do any more to it be sure and post some updated pics.

[Corey Hallagan]

Wow, that thing is gorgeous. Nice work John!

Corey

[Bernie Weishapl]

John that is a beauty. I love that wood and form. Nice job.

[Joash Boyton]

Great work! How much do they cost in USA?!?!?

How did you do the base? I've turned 20 or so Mallee burls in the past work, and 1 in every 3 has snapped:( How did you do it?


Really nice piece;)
Joash

[Jim Ketron]

Beautiful NE John!
love the figure in that Mallee!

[Curt Fuller]

Oh Man! That's a beauty John. I really like the way you oriented it to leave one side taller. And I also like the base. That's really nice. Great finish too.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Beautiful unusual form for a unusually beautiful piece of wood John! Well done Sir!

[Mike Vickery]

gorgeous piece, I love the foot you have on it.

[Jonathon Spafford]

That is a beautiful piece... I love that wood! You sure did a great job on it!

[George Conklin]

Howdy!
Not too happy with the finish yet. I'll probably do a little more to it before buffing.

Huh??? Don't you dare! It looks perfect just like it is:) .

[John Hart]

Thanks everyone! :) Lots of fun, this turning stuff is.;)

Joash...this piece cost me a little less than $10. To get the base done, I get all my finish turning and sanding done, then take the piece out of the chuck, put a soft cloth inside it and press it into the chuck with the tailstock livecenter centered on the tenon. Crank it tight enough that it won't fly off. Then light cuts, leaving a little nub where the live center is riding. Cut the nub off and sand.

[Bob Hallowell]

John,
That's another really nice piece. Please don't tell me you did this one with your skew also. :D

Bob

[John Hart]

John,
That's another really nice piece. Please don't tell me you did this one with your skew also. :D

Bob

Um....Yup. Well...not all of it. Ok....not much of it.:o The point of the skew comes in handy for setting the wall thickness and not harming the natural edge. With this piece, it was turning mostly air out on highest ridge, So I hollowed normally, but out toward the edge, I drive the point of the skew in head-on, in little bites....then smooth with the hollowmaster disc scraper thing. Pretty tense.:)

[jeremy levine]

Real nice, looks almost aquatic.

[Keith Burns]

John, you've outdone yourself with this one, grat piece !!!:) :)

I'll be anxious to see a great big one off the great big lathe:D

[Paul Engle]

Nice work John, the form looks very good.

[Mark Pruitt]

Beautiful job! I like everything about it.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Absolutely beautiful piece of art John!

Having the form offset was a great idea and really works well. That's a very different foot and gives the form sort of a floating quality. Great wood with lots of charactor.

Overall - very impressive! I've already saved it to my favorites!

[TYLER WOOD]

:eek:
WOW! Gorgeous finish leave it as it is! I need to find some of this stuff!

[Skip Spaulding]

Kind of has the shape of a large maple leaf, beautiful wood and what a job to do it proud!

[Neal Addy]

Beautiful wood and turning! Great job keeping the NE. I can appreciate the work that went into this. I love Mallee but it is a booger to turn.

Very nice work!

[Ed Scolforo]

Nice work, John, and beautiful piece of wood.

[Rich Stewart]

Getting right artsy there, ain't ya John? That's a great looking bowl. Looks like gallery stuff. Nice looking bottom. I'll have to try the soft rag/tailstock thing. I was thinking the only way to get a goodlooking bottom on one of these was with a vacuum chuck. You got to mess with it a lot to get it to run true? Great piece!

Rich

[Jim VanBramer]

Absolutely beautiful piece John!!! I'm currently working on my very first NE (sort of, as you'll see when I post it) and can now totally appreciate what goes into making one of these work. That business of turning out there in mid-air is really kinda creepy, and you're always wondering when that fateful catch is gonna happen!:eek: What's the secret to sanding one of these things anyway?? Again, great job John!

Jim V

[John Hart]

Thanks again yous guys. Once again...you are too kind.


....You got to mess with it a lot to get it to run true?...

No...not really....maybe a little bit. The bowl really wants to center itself. One key to remember is that when you are cutting the tenon in the beginning, be sure to skew in a little pilot hole for your live center later. That way, when you turn it around, you already have your center. The other thing is, the cloth needs to be evenly folded...not wadded up. Jim Becker and Glenn Hodges are where I learned this technique..and they use a couple of mouse pads.

I've also used this technique on hollowforms with small openings. Just chuck up a heavy dowel. Not much grip...but enough to get the job done.


....What's the secret to sanding one of these things anyway??

The main secret is "Don't get blood on your turning"!!!! And I mean that.
Always remember and never forget that your hands are right next to a sawblade. You must control the urge to feel it while it's turning just to see how smooth it is (even though your instincts tell you to fondle it)
Other than that, it's not too bad sanding the outside, but the inside is a bit harder for me. I keep my speed down under 400. When power sanding, I brace the sander on the toolrest if I can and hold it steady in one place, so that the wood comes to the sandpaper...offering very little pressure...Otherwise, I dive in the void and get blood on my project.
When you are sanding the inside bottom, you will feel relaxed because there's a solid surface. ahhh...solid wood!:) Wham!...the edge takes part of your wrist off....More blood on your project....not to mention the project delays caused by doctor visits and bandage changes.

There's going to be a lot of non-turning, manual-type sanding as well. But ya know...there are others here with much more experience than I. They might be able to offer their own insights on bloodless sanding.

[Bill Wyko]

John, NOW THATS TALENT! I really like this piece. You've done a fantastic job.:D I have'nt even tried to figure out how to turn a piece and leave the natural edge like that. Maby you could give me some pointers.:o :o :o

[Dario Octaviano]

Great piece!

$10.00?!?! :eek: ...I need to know where you are buying it.

How I wish you cored that... can't imagine turning everything else of that gorgeous wood into shavings.

[John Chandler]

Gorgeous wood and a great turning job.

[Joash Boyton]

Thanks everyone! :) Lots of fun, this turning stuff is.;)

Joash...this piece cost me a little less than $10. To get the base done, I get all my finish turning and sanding done, then take the piece out of the chuck, put a soft cloth inside it and press it into the chuck with the tailstock livecenter centered on the tenon. Crank it tight enough that it won't fly off. Then light cuts, leaving a little nub where the live center is riding. Cut the nub off and sand.
ok:D How did you turn the base? Did you turn a big collar for the jaws to hold onto? And then reverse turn it, and knock the base off?

Joash:)

[John Hart]

...How did you turn the base? Did you turn a big collar for the jaws to hold onto? And then reverse turn it, and knock the base off?

Hmmm...I guess I wasn't very clear. I think what you are calling a collar, I am calling a Tenon, and yes, the piece is reverse turned, after hollowing for the base. Here's some bad drawings I worked up in case nobody understood what I was saying:

1. First step is mount the chunk of wood on to a faceplate
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2. Next...Turn the outer profile of the bowl and cut a tenon for your chuck to grab on to.
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3. Now, turn the bowl around, remove the faceplate, mount the tenon to the chuck and hollow the bowl out. Do all your finish sanding and stuff.
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4. Finally, Turn the bowl around and place padding inside the bowl and bring the tailstock up to the tenon and crank it tight. Turn your base, leaving a nub in the center for the tailstock to keep good pressure on the piece. DON'T turn the nub off. The bowl will go wild and fly across the room or beat itself to destruction. Then just remove the nub by breaking or grinding it off, then sand the center of the base.
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