Remember my burl ..well see the progress

Some of you might remember the burl i purchased recently. Well it was the first time I have ever had a burl in the raw in my hands and i really did not know where to start.

Ed Thomas kindly offered to take a look at it and before attending the recent get together downtown Toronto Ed invited me to stop by his workshop for us to examine it.

So if you want reminding on it you can see it posted here.

Well now for the results of our get together.

I did not know it but the burl had formed in such a way that it was actually two burls. One on either side of the trunk. Ed spotted this right away. He is a pretty sharp guy. So he suggested cutting it in two. But he said sleep on it. Heck noooooo. I said lets cut it now. I been waiting months to see whats inside that thing. Talk about patience.

So here is shot of the burl cut in half.



This is what was inside, and boy am i happy I saw doctor Ed.



Had i not and had i turned this burl as one i think i would have been disappointed and wasted a burl. Thanks again Ed for saving me.

Well naturally after getting home from the meet I could not wait to get one half of the burl mounted on the lathe. Ed and i had discussed this part too so as to ensure i dont do my usual stunt and turn it from the wrong end. The Burl had a natural place to drill a hole with a forstner bit. So i did this and contrary to Eds advice (heck my impatience got the better of me.) i used my One way chuck and spigot jaws to mount it. Worked well but i should have glued a glue block into the hole, which i will do later.

So i cleaned some bark off the top, heck its going to be stripped away when i hollow it out.

Here it is mounted on the lathe



These are shots of what has come out so far



As you can see my fear is this burl is a waste of time or is going to explode on me when i get that tennon into the lathe to scoop out the bowl.

My best guess is to use super glue to fill that crack you can see in the first picture.

But a bigger problem is how far to go. Ed did warn me that these would most likely be pretty small bowls that come out.

Comments and advice would be most appreciated and welcome. Thanks for watching.

I just checked the pictures and they make this burl look way better than it does when you hold it in your hands.

I'll let the more experienced turners give advice, but I have to say it sure looks like you have been having some fun in the shop lately...

Rob, from the looks of it you have the makings of a great natural edge bowl there. just take it slow and easy. sharp tools are your friend.

Looks like a good start, Rob, but I understand your concerns about the crack around the tenon. It might survive as-is, but it does look a little dicey, especially if there's a chance you might get a catch hollowing it out. (In other words, a more experienced turner might have a better chance of success than a beginner.)

If you do decide to fill the crack, instead of CA glue, I'd suggest epoxy. It's stronger, more flexible (a good thing in this case), and has better adhesion. If you think there will be open gaps getting filled, you can use black epoxy and it'll blend in better than clear. I get black epoxy in the two-tube syringes at the Borg. You can also mix charcoal dust with clear epoxy with good results. Do not try darkening epoxy with India ink, though. It somehow prevents the glue from ever hardening completely. (I've got a piece I did that on three years or so ago. The epoxy can still be dented with a fingernail...then a couple days later it has no dent.)

If the crack is thin and you're having trouble getting the epoxy to flow into the smaller places, you can thin the mixed epoxy with a little DNA.

BTW, I don't recall what chuck and jaws you have, but if your chuck has dovetail jaws (like one of the Nova chucks), then make sure you also have a dovetail profile on your tenon. As it looks in the pics, your tenon is square, and in fact a bit larger at the bottom of the bowl than at the end of the tenon. That's a recipe for an IFO. (Identified Flying Object) It'll be Identified since you'll already know it's a burl when it goes flying.)

Remember my Burl..wellsee the progress

Here is what a fella told me when I 1st strarted turning,an it works.1st turn the outside to finish,polish it to where its completely done,then get that clear wraping tape and wrap it up real good,then do the inside and that can help keep it from exploding,doesn't work all the time,but has every time I tried it.Good luck.

Looking good Rob!

Ken, that's good advice, filing that away for future reference...thanks!

Thank you Vaughn, you got me dead right. I needed everything you said down to the letter. Just what i wanted to know. BTW the tennon is supposed to be shaped properly will check it out. Will get my hands on that epoxy you mention. Gonna play it safe cause i think this baby may have wings. Be a while before i get back to it. Its sitting on the lather waiting for me now.

Thanks Ken I will take note of what you said but i think Vaughn has my number and at least for now while i am still learning I will play it safe and expoxy it to bits.

Oh Vaughn i have a One Way scroll chuck with a set of the serrated jaws and a set of spigot jaws. Its on the spigot right now with them being expanded out in the forstner bit hole.

One thing i was hoping for some advice on from someone who has turned a burl before is given the picture i have how far should i continue to go on the outside. I aint seeing any great burl look yet but i know its in there from having drilled the hole to mount it on.

Should i just keep on going. I got another half to redo it if i mess this one up so its only wood. Just want to get an idea of what to expect if that is possible.