apple burl question turn wet? will it check?

[curtis rosche]

after working on the walnut bowl i have decided that i am going to stop turning really dry really hard woods for a while i and going to do some softer wet woods and i was thinking of turning the wet apple burls tha i have does any one know how much they will check or crack? i cut off 3 small burl to see what they did and only one of them checked a little should i try one and see what it does? i was thinking of turning it then when done for the day puting it in dna then resuming the next day and repeating until its done than soak in dna any thing wrong with this? the wood is still super wet it was only cut in the fall and it peaks the moisture meter..............

[Ted Calver]

Curtis,
Until my source passed away I used to get several truckloads of PA apple a year. The wood twists and cracks and generally does the shimmey. The trees with a lot of heartwood were the nicest looking--trees with mostly sapwood not so much. I rough turned using the 10% rule--walls 1 tenth the final bowl diameter, ie., a 10" diameter bowl had 1" walls rough turned. Then I wrapped them in a double paper grocery bag and stacked them in a heap in a big cardboard box and left them alone for 6 months. Roughly a quarter would develop significant cracks, the rest would dry to an oblong shape that worked for final turning. Today I would use the DNA drying method, or boiling method and be able to finish turn in a much shorter time. I didn't have much luck finish turning the green wood without cracking. In the end you end up turning dry hard wood...so you need to refine those techniques. Good luck!

[curtis rosche]

any one evr turned an apple burl?

[Brian Poor]

Cultivated Apple doesn't generally burl. Wild Apple burls are not common but could be had.
In any event, Apple is one of the toughest timbers to dry without checking.

Rough turn to 10%, then soak submerged in DNA / liquid dish soap solution for a day.
Wrap the exterior of the bowl in kraft paper, tape over the rim, leave the inside exposed.
Place in a draft free place (maybe a cabinet) for several weeks.
When the inside of the bowl no longer feels cool to the touch, it has reached close to EMC (equalized moisture content).
Re-chuck and turn to finished thickness, oil finish and buff. Take photos. :)

[curtis rosche]

ill take photos soon ill show you the burls i just sanded a small one today and it looksa awsome it looks like a peice of fruit from all of the eyes well i think its apple it smell like an apple when cut it was in a huge orchard and they had pushed a bunch of them over and every tree had 3-5 good size burls on them and a bunch of smaller or odd shaped one that were on a crotch peice i got 2 bigger ones that are growing on a crotch peice