Madrone!

[Dave B West]

There has been a lot on this forum about madrone lately. I just happened into some of it and am impressed.
This stuff flies off the bowl gouge. And for me, a novice wood turner, it sometimes flies too easily. A six inch bowl becomes five pretty quickly while trying to clean up the outside. I have also found the light behind the bowl to be the best for finding out if I am taking it thin enough.
I do have a question though. When I have finished turning and the wood dries, it has what I assume is burn marks. Is this the case? What causes this? Too high of rpms? Low quality tools? It does sand off after the bowl has dried but I would like to learn to prevent it if I can.

If i can figure out how to post pictures from my phone I have some that show my problem.

[Russell Neyman]

Dave, it's impossible to know what is causing the marks without seeing it. Why not take it to the Woodturners of Olympia Thursday and share it? Or to the Olympic Peninsula Woodturners this Wednesday?

[Dave B West]

I will make it to the Oly club meeting this week. I hope to make it some day up to your club meeting someday, but not this week. I did try to post photos but it didn't upload. I'm thinking the file size is too large. Oh well, I will see what the Oly club has to say about it.

[Ralph Lindberg]

Dave
Have you boiled/steamed/pressure-cooked the wood?

If not, it will warp, in wonderful and interesting ways. If it's thin enough, if not it will certainly crack.

I really would suggest getting involved with the Olympia club, I'm fairly certain their next meeting is Thursday (4th Thursday) @ the Fairgrounds

[Reed Gray]

I always end up with a window sill piled high with pink shavings when I turn it...

Now, burn marks??? Haven't seen that one, at least don't think I have. I do get little black spots on it because of metal dust particles which oxidize almost instantly. Easy to remove if you catch it while still wet and use some lemon juice concentrate. Only other burn mark I can think of is burnishing rings on the outside which aren't black, or the rings on the inside if you are using too much pressure and/or don't have the heel of your gouge removed. These are not black though. Spring harvested Madrone is less prone to cracking than late year harvested Madrone.

robo hippy

[Dave B West]

The little black and purple dots are what I was referring to. I assumed I was burning it. So lemon juice will remove it. How does that process work?

[Reed Gray]

I use it for removing chuck jaw marks in my recess. I just pour some into the recess, swirl it around, and color is gone in 5 minutes. For the outside, a bunch of tiny drops will do it, or even a hand wash. If the wood is dry, it will leave bleached out spots or drips down the side of your bowl. Good for taking off most of the walnut stain on your hands too, as long as you have no paper cuts....

robo hippy

[Dave B West]

Awesome thanks. I'll definitely try that.