Fir Burl Bowl "Final"

Nate Davey

Member
Messages
98
Location
Sandia Park, NM
I picked up this Fir Burl from my local wood pusher. It was 22" at it widest and 20" at the narrowest. The lathe did wiggle a bit as a started roughing the outside. Unfortunately, the center is really bad off and the bark inclusions go pretty deep, so I'm going to lose some height and diameter. Hopefully, I can get a couple cores out of it.
Fir Burl Bowl WIP.jpgFir Burl.jpg
 
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Update

Had to take a bit of a break form turning to but the Minister of Finance green house together. Then back to the lathe. This is, without a doubt, the worst piece of wood I've ever turned and I've turned some pretty bad wood. Most of the top part of the bowl was completely shot. It's not pithy like maple or walnut, but stringy. The wood is really wet and the burl eyes come out in chunks. I've tried every trick I know. Stabilizing with CA, light cuts, heavy cuts, using my scraper. The bark inclusions went far deeper than I had guessed so had to change the design a bit. Book of Raffan, Chapter 3, page 47, I've gotten it to a rough shape I want and now I'm just going to let it dry and see what I can finish. The only wood that is left is burl wood, so hopefully, as it dries, it wont crack......to badly. To get it round and try to get out of the worst wood, I've reduced the diameter to 17". There is a ruined part of the edge, guess it will be a rustic refined look. I will probably never turn fir burl again!
Fir Burl WIP 2.jpgFir Burl 2a.jpgFir Burl WIP 2b.jpg
 
I feel your pain. I've had several promising blanks that ended up being more hassle than they were worth when it was all said and done. Like Jim said, wrap it up, move on to the next, and maybe when it's dry it'll surprise you. ;)
 
I'll be letting it dry out then soak it in a 50/50 mix of white glue and water for a day or two, then let it dry for a couple weeks and give it a go again
 
"Finished"

I've finished, sort of. It dried, out, which doesn't take long up here, went out of round and cracked in several places. Once dry, it actually cut pretty well, did a lot of work with the 80 grit gouge. The missing section was part of the main tree that was too far gone to save. I really like this shape, found it in Raffans book, and want to try a few more. He never showed the inside of the bowl so I really don't know how it should look for this form. I left it dished, not really following the contour, so the Finance Minister can put something in it if she likes. The extra weight in the base will keep it from being too tippy. I wasn't able to keep the nice concave curve as I was afraid it would explode on me. I did a small, "invisible" foot so it floats a little. Finish is Walnut Oil. Thanks for looking.
Fir Burl Bowl 01.jpgFir Burl Bowl 02.jpg
 
Definitely a nice save. This piece did not belong in the burn box. I have a plethora of projects 'to be saved'... Fortunately, most are not as a result of the turner at least not as much as they used to be. I think the Minister of Finance should release some additional funds to the vortex as a bonus for a job well done.
 
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