new member, first post: BIG LEAF MAPLE BURL bowl

[David A. Peterson]

I bought this burl on ebay. I won the auction for $100 and delivery bumped it to $121. I got a little history on the piece of wood from the seller:

"It is Western Big Leaf Maple. This tree was removed from a hillside in the Trask River Valley just east of Tillamook, Oregon. The Butt cut of the tree was 6 feet in diameter and 10 feet long with this type of burl all around and through this first cut. The burl penetration was just over 2 feet thick on all sides. The tree was declining in health so the land owner made the decision to have it cut while there was still good usable wood in it. This white wood was only about 8" thick and the rest of it was very dark red heart wood with the same burl and curl."

The burl in it's raw form is behind the myrtle bowl I had just finished turning when I took this picture: The circle drawn on the maple bowl is about 11" in diameter and it is about 2 3/4" thick. The finished product (bottom of page) is 10" in diameter and 2 1/2" thick.

myrtlebowl1.jpg

I cut the round and maximized it to the biggest dimension I could on one side, which will be the top. On the underside of the round, there was still some of the irregular pattern still showing that is directly under the bark. I turned it down to leave just one spot that showed 'live edge' without bark (the wood was too dry and the bark came off easily). The live edge indentation is maximum depth of 3/8", so I turned it to make the bowl a little thicker. The live edge is solid, no cracks, and has a little coloration (grey/white areas). I plan on plugging the chuck hole after I am finished. I like to make a little raised edge rim on the underside, so it sits on that ring. That minimizes scratches on the underside, and it also guarantees that the bottom is perfectly flat with no wobble.

alright....enough of that. This is with one coat of Minwax Tung finish on it, polished to 2000 grit.

Still on the lathe, but the outside is turned, showing the void of the live edge.

mapleburlbowl1.jpg

The finished product. Second photo shows the live edge as the bowl sits flat.

mapleburlbowl2.jpg mapleburlbowl3.jpg

David A. Peterson (I go by 'Dave', but that name was already taken by someone else)

[John Keeton]

David, welcome to the creek. Beautiful piece of wood and nice work on the bowl!

[Brian Kent]

What a story and what a unique final product. Welcome to the Creek, Dave.

[charlie knighton]

welcome, pretty stuff

[Harry Robinette]

Welcome to the Creek
Have you been waiting long to Knock our eye's out with this beautiful bowl. You did good Dave keep it up we love pictures.

[Ted Calver]

Welcome David. You sure knocked the socks off that piece of wood. It's a beauty!

[Baxter Smith]

Welcome to SMC David. Gorgeous chunk of wood!

[Pat Scott]

Beautiful piece of wood David, I've love to get my hands on something like that but I'm too cheap to pay $100.

Not sure if you plan on using this or displaying it on a shelf. I make a lot of salad bowls, so if you don't mind my suggestions:

1. You said you turned the bowl a little thick due to the void. How thick is thick? Something like this you could have turned to 1/2" wall thickness (or 9/16") which would leave 1/8 - 3/16" over the void. This is still plenty strong, and removing extra wood will reduce the weight of the bowl at the same time.

2. When you put a ring or bead or foot of some kind for the bowl to sit on, you definitely want this to be the high point that the bowl sits on. If you put a straightedge across the bottom the center should be lower than the ring. I try to make my center area at least 1/16" lower that the ring. I've had a few bowls where 1/16" wasn't enough and a day or two later the wood relaxed even more and now the bowl is rocking. I started checking the gap with my ruler parallel to the grain and again perpendicular. That seems to have helped avoid a high spot.

3. I would not try and plug the chuck hole. I think even if you do a perfect job it's still going to look like a plug. I would remount the piece using Cole Jaws, Jamb Chuck, Vacuum Chuck, or bring up the tailstock. Then decorate the hole somehow. Recess the area between the ring a little more and turn another bead around the edge of the chuck hole for example. Reducing the area around the hole means if you do make a bead around the hole, it's not going to be such a big bead. It's hard to tell from the picture, but the area between the ring (bead) looks pretty close to being the same height as the bead, and your chuck recess looks to be at least 1/4" to 3/8" deep, meaning you have a lot of wood to play with.

4. Another suggestion and more work is to remount the bowl, and reshape the curve a bit more. Cut away some of the outside curve and tighten it in, this will reduce or could eliminate the void. Cut away the bead on the bottom, and make a new bead closer towards the middle. A typical foot on a bowl is 35% to 45% of the diameter. For a 10" bowl you can have a 3.5" to 4.5" foot and be just fine. Yours looks more like 8"? The other advantage of having a smaller foot is it's easier to decorate or disguise the chuck recess, there is less area in the center of the bead that needs reduced (so the bottom doesn't look so flat), and with a smaller foot you have more of the side to play with as far as shape.

I always completely finish turn my bowls before I put a finish on them. I do this so I can sand and blend in the foot better with the side if needed. If you try and sand a bowl with finish on it, you'll gum up your sandpaper.

Well done, let's see some pictures when you've finished the bottom. Don't forget to sign and date it.

[David A. Peterson]

Pat Scott: Thank you for your suggestions and If I ever tackle another one like this one, will take them into consideration. I don't have the COLE JAWS, JAMB CHUCK, or VACUUM CHUCK. I had to work with what I had. My bottom-side ring is 6" in diameter. Yes, I could have turned it thinner, but it is so lightweight to begin with, I did not want to take a chance of getting too thin. I considered there might be hidden cracks in something that had that much burl through it. I know...I could have faced that when I got to it, but I was satisfied with the overall shape and look of the piece. the max wall thickness is about 3/4" (other than at the live-edge gap). My plug was made from a piece of scrap from the larger piece, and I used my die stamp D A P to mark it in the center. The bowl will be for personal display and I don't plan on selling it or using it for anything other than occasional fruit (or to hold Christmas cards once a year). Here is a picture of the underside. It does not wobble and is not high-centered. The plug and space inside the rim is deep enough so it does not cause a problem.

mapleburlbowl5.jpg