question of where to cut the crotch/burl

[curtis rosche]

this is a crotch burl peice that i got its cherry and partialy dry i dont know how to cut it as to get the most and best grain out of it

[curtis rosche]

no one wants to take a shot at this?

[Jim Becker]

"What" do you want to make out of it? It's hard for folks to advise you where they might slice the beast without that knowledge.

[curtis rosche]

i was hoping to make 5-7in bowls out of it and plates out of whats left i just wana get as much out as possible the out side looks amazing if that anything to go by its got all the little spikes and a couple nobes that look like a mesh

[curtis rosche]

also wondering how would you cut a regular crotch peice to get the grain out of it

[John Bartley]

ifitwasmine idprobablycutit rightdownthe middleandmake eachhalfintoabowl

Curtis,

A bit of courtesy towards your fellow forumites, that being in the form of punctuation and capitalisation, might help to generate a few more replies. Unstructured sentences are very hard to read.

cheers

[Brian Poor]

Hi Curtis,
When burls occur, they typically do no go through the entire trunk or branch. Burls are sort of an 'overgrowth' of wood cells very similar to tumors in humans.

To answer your question about how or where to slice it, your best first cut will be to visualize the burl as a slab on the exterior of the tree - slice off the slab. If the burl were to go completely around the branch, then several slices might be in order.

You'll see when you get it separated from the branch that the burl is just on the outside. From looking at what you have for pictures, I can only see one decent bowl there, maybe some odds and ends after.

Good luck with your treasure..

[Bernie Weishapl]

I agree with Brian. I see maybe 1 bowl out of the burl and maybe a small one from the other half. I would have to see it. I am thinking maybe one small bowl and a lidded box or two at the most.

[George Guadiane]

i was hoping to make 5-7in bowls out of it and plates out of whats left i just wana get as much out as possible the out side looks amazing if that anything to go by its got all the little spikes and a couple nobes that look like a mesh
I would go for one largest piece, bark edge up. pith running through the lower middle of the finished piece. Burl at the top and regular grain at the bottom.

[Brian McInturff]

I've learned to "NOT" try and get the most out of a piece. But to study it to decide how I can get the "Best" out of it.I see 2 shallow bowls, and like Bernie, a small lidded box. All to often we try and get the most out of something. The biggest, the most pieces, etc. We get lost in that train of thought instead of trying to find the real beauty in the piece. It's hard to put yourself in this mode of thinking. I'm learning to do that now. Good luck with what you decide and post pics as you go.

[David Wilhelm]

Curtis, It's not easy to say without having the burl in my hands as to how I'd cut it. Or for that matter what idea in my mind I'd want to make. they are never the same on the inside it seems. You may find a large nasty void that will become the show case to what you'd want to turn around. I can see for myself a NE and several pen blanks but that how i choose to use up my burl scrape. I'm not a perfect typer either by the way so your typing doesn't bother me at all. At least you post pictures. I'm to tight to buy a camera LOL

[Brian Poor]

I like Davids' thought about a bowl and some pen blanks.
Going by the pictures, this may have been off the stump for a while.
If checking is already a problem, some pen blanks might be all you get..

Cutting it will be the only way to get a peek.

Maybe after you do slice it, you could let us see what you get for blanks?

[John Abt]

Curtis,

Jim said it in an earlier reply. It will depend on what you want to make and your design goal is. It's also difficult (at least for me) to envision the piece from 2-d photos.

Ray Overman posted a great tutorial in this forum that may be of help a few days ago. The thread is called On Natural Edge Bowls.

Good luck with it.

John

[curtis rosche]

so, based on what you said i will cut it long ways with the burl on one side and the other half of the log on the other, once i have that i will look at making a NE bowl out of the burl and a bowl with the burl at the bottom and do what ever with the other side....... only 1 problem the band saw at school only does 6 inches and they wont let me put in a riser block...... so it looks like ill have to use a chainsaw for part of it

[Curt Fuller]

I wouldn't cut it except for trimming the ends so it will fit on your lathe. I'm afraid that by the time you cut it down the center you'll end up with two halves that are too small for anything but a very shallow bowl. It would make a very nice deep bowl or hollow form if you used the entire burl though.

[curtis rosche]

its 8 in thick at the smallest part and 10 at the thickest i was goin to do about half so 4 in on the bottom then the rest is the burl