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bdfairlie
10th May 2012, 10:31 PM
Hi Everyone

I have followed discussions in this forum for some little time, but this is my first post :)

Can I ask for your assistance in identifying the timber in the bowls shown here 207987, 207986, 207988, 207989.

As you can see, the timber has some very interesting (burl-like?) grain and in places has a distinct yellowish tinge (unfortunately not showing up very well in my rather poor quality photographs). According to the donor of the timber, it is "liquid amber". While the bark (seen here 207991 in an as yet unturned block in the wood heap) is, sort of, consistent with my knowledge of the tree, I expected the wood to have a somewhat deeper colour.

A second, natural edged bowl (which unfortunately lost some of its bark while being finished) from the same log is shown here 207990.

Any assistance will be gratefully received. (Actually I don't really care what sort of timber it is. It was a delight to turn and has produced some interesting results. But it would be nice to be able to tell the curious just what the timber really is!)

Regards

Bruce

Skewturn
10th May 2012, 11:06 PM
Hi Bruce
I dont know what the timber is but your bowls look pretty good:2tsup:
The grain looks nice. Cheers Skewturn:U

hughie
11th May 2012, 09:31 AM
Well if its Liquid Amber then you have LA burl not exactly common. :2tsup:

bench1holio
11th May 2012, 09:46 AM
beautiful bowls bruce :2tsup: im almost certain the timber is box elder burl, a leaf would confirm.

gtwilkins
11th May 2012, 12:14 PM
Bruce,

If you were in our neck of the woods I would say its a maple burl (birdseye), the bark is very reminiscent of maple burls.

Box Elder is sometimes called Manitoba Maple, are there any transplanted maples from Canada in Australia?

Trevor

Toymaker Len
11th May 2012, 01:20 PM
The straight grain section looks exactly like jacaranda but I have never seen jacaranda burl. Anyway beautiful work.

turnerted
11th May 2012, 05:15 PM
Some nice work there . I don't think it's liquidamber . All the liquidamber I have turned has tones of greys and whites .
Ted

bdfairlie
11th May 2012, 10:47 PM
Thank you all for your comments.

Considering all your suggestions thus far I am inclined to go with that of box elder from bench1holio. This picture http://www.woodweb.com/galleries/sawmill/images/270/box_elder_burl_slab.jpg of a box elder burl is very similar to what I have got. Unfortunately I do not know the timber source personally so I cannot ask about a leaf.

Whatever it is, I will just on turning and see what appears.

Bruce

turnerted
12th May 2012, 05:00 PM
bdfairlie
If your timber has any blotches or streaks of pink in it ,as evident in the slab in your last posting,that is indicative of box elder . It is caused by a disease that box elder gets and is very desirable .
Ted

robo hippy
13th May 2012, 03:25 AM
It does look like Maple burl, and Box Elder is a soft maple. It isn't common here on the west coast, and does not always have the red/pink colors which do fade to brown eventually.

robo hippy

bdfairlie
13th May 2012, 05:16 PM
turnerted

Having had a closer look, it does have a couple of small, very fine, veins of pink/red running through several bits of the swirlier grain, so I think we can safely conclude that it is indeed box elder.

Thanks for all your help.

Bruce

dai sensei
13th May 2012, 06:56 PM
...the red/pink colors which do fade to brown eventually.

robo hippy

Really? You mean all this gorgeous stuff I have here with bright pink swirls are going to turn brown, nooooooooooo

gtwilkins
14th May 2012, 12:50 PM
It helps to keep it out of bright sunlight and use a clear finish with a UV blocker in it but eventually it turns tan/brown.

I have seen pieces that have had a pink/red stain washed or airbrushed over the natural colours and then a clear finish, that's the only way I have heard about to keep the the pinks and reds.

Trevor