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artful bodger
5th November 2016, 04:19 PM
Put this post about ,http://www.woodworkforums.com/f11/intentionally-growing-burls-209619 in the general woodwork section a week or so ago.
Since then have got round to making a couple of small bowls from one of the burls.
They measure 130mm dia each and 60mm and 63mm high.
399028 The one on the right has so far got 2 coats of danish type oil. I was a bit shocked at how much the oil darkened the timber as I really liked the look of it with no finish at all. So for the other one I tried a couple of coats of pre-catalysed lacquer to see if it would retain a bit more of it's natural colour, which it has done compared to the oil although I find the 70% gloss a bit shiny and plasticy. Maybe a 40% gloss would look better.
Anyway I am hoping the bloke who owns the tree they came from will be willing to part with a few of the really big burls that are still on it.
399031399030399029

MAPLEMAN
5th November 2016, 04:38 PM
O.M.G...Timber doesn't get much prettier than that :q
Absolutely stunning stuff...MM:2tsup:

Gabriel
5th November 2016, 06:19 PM
I read the post after looking at the pictures. I thought they were 2 different timbers with the colour difference!!

Great job on the matching pair and really nice shape to them. Thanks for sharing

artful bodger
5th November 2016, 07:07 PM
I read the post after looking at the pictures. I thought they were 2 different timbers with the colour difference!!
Great job on the matching pair and really nice shape to them. Thanks for sharing



Thanks for the compliment Gabriel. To me shape/design is the MOST important part. It is the difference between a bad piece and a good piece. So many times you see really lovely bits of figured,burl,birdseye timber etc turned into dreadful shapes (or horribly finished pieces) somehow hoping the feature timber will be the drawcard. The same thing goes for furniture and no doubt heaps of other things too. If you can nail a good shape/design then even the plainest of timbers can suddenly become special.

I think I read that in one of Mike Darlows' turning books years ago and think it is pretty good advice.

smiife
5th November 2016, 07:52 PM
Thanks for the compliment Gabriel. To me shape/design is the MOST important part. It is the difference between a bad piece and a good piece. So many times you see really lovely bits of figured,burl,birdseye timber etc turned into dreadful shapes (or horribly finished pieces) somehow hoping the feature timber will be the drawcard. The same thing goes for furniture and no doubt heaps of other things too. If you can nail a good shape/design then even the plainest of timbers can suddenly become special.

I think I read that in one of Mike Darlows' turning books years ago and think it is pretty good advice.




Hi AB.
Nice looking bowls, finish on both looks good
Well done:2tsup:
At 130mm wide , you don, t think It, s a bit deep? at 60 mm
2 to 1 ratio ?

artful bodger
5th November 2016, 08:22 PM
Great question Smife. I am glad you asked.
They indeed are pretty deep bowls. I could on the one hand have cut each one in half and made maybe 4 bowls at perhaps 28mm high. However when each one needs a foot as well, then maybe you have 4 suspectly shallow numbers.
For these ones I wanted to keeps as much of the original burl in one piece as possible. Bearing in mind these 2 were from the one burl that would have made 1 bowl twice the size, except there was a kind of a defect that went right through the middle. So it had to be 2.
Your question also raises other pertinent points, for example, "how do you get the most out of a valuable/rare bit of wood?" This way (turning) probably is not the best.

Nubsnstubs
6th November 2016, 02:31 PM
AB, that is some nice wood. After reading your previous post on growing burls, I'm gonna shoot one of my Osage Orange trees tomorrow. Ok, now, is that 22 short, long or magnum? hehehehe Gotta know, man. You will be able to reach me at the Pima County Jail after tomorrow. ................ Jerry (in Tucson)

smiife
6th November 2016, 05:30 PM
Great question Smife. I am glad you asked.
They indeed are pretty deep bowls. I could on the one hand have cut each one in half and made maybe 4 bowls at perhaps 28mm high. However when each one needs a foot as well, then maybe you have 4 suspectly shallow numbers.
For these ones I wanted to keeps as much of the original burl in one piece as possible. Bearing in mind these 2 were from the one burl that would have made 1 bowl twice the size, except there was a kind of a defect that went right through the middle. So it had to be 2.
Your question also raises other pertinent points, for example, "how do you get the most out of a valuable/rare bit of wood?" This way (turning) probably is not the best.

Hi AB. I probably should have read the other post
before commenting:doh:..............it is nice to get timber
with a bit of history and a story to tell !
I guess a bowl saver Is the way to go , but on a hard
burl not too sure how they go !
It does seem a shame to sweep most of your beautiful
burl up and throw It away:o:o:o
Great job on the bowls:2tsup:

Picko
6th November 2016, 05:58 PM
Great stuff. I like the subdued finish.

Dalboy
6th November 2016, 08:47 PM
Two very nice bowls indeed elm is a great wood either as a burr or even as a straighter grained piece. I know what you mean about loosing some to get the proportions looking correct and not wanting to waste good looking wood. As I also make pens the solution for me is to cut off either the top or bottom and use the smaller piece for pen blanks anything narrower than that does not become a problem if I have to turn it away.

Paul39
7th November 2016, 04:00 AM
Artful,

I don't mind the darker bowl done with oil. The figure shows well in the photos. You could cut back the gloss on the lighter one by hand with 0000 steel wool and then hand rub with oil to get less gloss. The steel wool might stick in the fissures, so you might want to do a little area then have a look with a magnifying glass.

I think the design is fine and do not think too deep. Both beautiful bowls.