Next best thing to a burl.

[Caveman]

Hi all,

Managed to turn this thing t'other day.
Is the nearest thing I've ever turned to a burl. Is/was a stump from an ancient coffea arabica bush.

Some of the fissures were real deep hence the final thickness of the piece.
Is about 12" (30cm) across by 5" (13cm) high.
Finished only with BLO so far.

Comments and critiques welcome.
My crit (other than the thickness) would be that the internal shape and the external profile don't really match as can be seen in the last pic.

Sure was fun making it - finished real nice off the tool (unusual for me) and sands out to a beaut smooth finish.

[TTIT]

Have you let that poor Stubby cool down at all since you got it :o. You can get away with a thicker form when there's a lot of figure and inclusions to study. Not a bad lookin' bit of wood for the 'Land of the Burl Bereft" - gawd! - there must be one there somewhere mate!:U

[joe greiner]

Looks good, Andy. Stumps and root balls are some of my favourite sources. And every tree has one. Grain goes every which way.

They can be a bear and a half to excavate, though, without heavy equipment. My process is to leave about a meter or so of the trunk above ground (more like 5 feet, actually). I attach a come-along with chains to another tree to wrench it about. I have several electric chain saws, bought cheap as at garage sales. I sharpen all of them in a marathon session, so I don't have to interrrupt for sharpening; just change saws - sharp saws don't survive long when cutting dirt. I usually hydro-excavate around the roots over a few days to let the water soak in between scoop-outs, or excavate a drainage trench if the lay of the land permits. This doesn't work well in times of water restrictions, of course.

It's probably best to turn as soon as possible after removing the stump. I've lost a few to rot if stored too long.

Joe

[Toasty]

Very nice, I personally like the outside profile a lot. I think you could have gone deeper internally, you would be surprisd how well it can (usually) hold together. But it is not unattractive, so well done.

I have a similar bowl of yellowbox burl with its second coat of poly/blo/tung drying as we speak. Hopefully the third or fourth coat will really bring out a gloss shine.

[OGYT]

Bang up job on this one, Andy! The Stubby's treatin' you right, huh? I like the form, and all about this bowl... the inclusions just add to the character of the piece. It'll look good anywhere it goes! Her Majesty likes it, also! That means it's been checked out with someone who has discriminating tastes..:D

[artme]

Ripper!!!:o:):):D:B

[HappyHammer]

Great looking bowl Andy:2tsup:, scary looking inclusions :o

What's with all the started but not completed bowls in the background?:U

HH.

[hughie]

. Not a bad lookin' bit of wood for the 'Land of the Burl Bereft" -


Andy,

As TTIT said. well done :2tsup:

[Caveman]

Thanks all for the kind comments.

Have you let that poor Stubby cool down at all since you got it :o. You can get away with a thicker form when there's a lot of figure and inclusions to study. Not a bad lookin' bit of wood for the 'Land of the Burl Bereft" - gawd! - there must be one there somewhere mate!:U
Thanks Vern - plenty time for the Stubby to cool down overnite:D.
Have actually found a couple of large old Eucalypts bearing a few burls, just haven't quite worked out how to get away with removing them!

Great looking bowl Andy:2tsup:, scary looking inclusions :o
What's with all the started but not completed bowls in the background?:U
HH.
Thanks HH - those are roughed out and dried bowls waiting to be re-turned. I dry them out for several months in a 'cooler' store before bringing them into the workshop for a couple/few weeks/months before re-turning.

Looks good, Andy.
sharp saws don't survive long when cutting dirt. Joe
Thanks Joe - tell me about it! This stump had quite a few dirt patches.
I have several chains that I rotate when I have a batch of similar stuff to cut up.


There's masses more of these stumps where that one came from. They came from a friends coffee plantation - reckon I could fill up several lorry loads of the things:o - if only I could deal with all.....

[rsser]

A fine bit of rustic turning Andy.

We can get obsessed about thinness.

That said, pushing the boundaries is part of the game too, provided you've put on the protective gear and of course you have more where that one came from. So +1 to Toasty's comment. Going thinner can be decided after you've taken a close look at checks and voids. A squirt or two of CA followed by sanding in some dust filler helps with the former, and a couple of wraps with duct tape the latter.

[Cliff Rogers]

:2tsup:

[Harry72]

:2tsup:X2 :D

[Caveman]

:2tsup:Thanks guy's for the :2tsup:.


We can get obsessed about thinness.

That said, pushing the boundaries is part of the game too, provided you've put on the protective gear and of course you have more where that one came from. So +1 to Toasty's comment.
Yep - agreed - should have gone deeper and a wee bit thinner.

[Caveman]

G'day,

Another one off the Stubby.
Still left it quite 'chunky' but I kinda like it - another fun piece.

+- 13" - just finished with a couple of coats of linseed oil so far.

[rsser]

Halloween mask?

[Cliff Rogers]

:2tsup:

[dai sensei]

More scary :o, but nice :2tsup::cool:

[Caveman]

Thanks guy's

Halloween mask?
:D

More scary :o, but nice :2tsup::cool:
Actually didn't find it too bad - much easier than an intermitant edge type turning.

[Ed Reiss]

Great lookin' turnings!!:2tsup::2tsup:

[Rum Pig]

Andy you are giving that lathe a shore work out.
I like the second bowl looks better, I think because it is that bit thiner but both are spectacular pieces, I bet you will be going back for more stumps.:D

[hughie]

Another one off the Stubby.
Still left it quite 'chunky' but I kinda like it - another fun piece.


whose working the farm...........:U

[Burnsy]

I really like it Andy. Does the timber smell like coffee at all? Has lovely colour and figure.

[Sawdust Maker]

very nice piece, well done :2tsup:
coffee trees in Queensland I believe :D

[Caveman]

Thanks guys:2tsup:

whose working the farm...........:U
Remote control:U!!!
Mostly done on a Sunday - I retreat to my place of worship - (cave).
Problem is (especially at this time of year) everyone puts in an order for things that they want to give away as presents - I never have anything left over for the Xmas craft fair or the gallery that intermitently gets the odd piece that's nice enough - quite a nice problem though.

I really like it Andy. Does the timber smell like coffee at all? Has lovely colour and figure.
Not much smell to it Burnsy - certainly not like the coffee smell we know, but has quite a pleasant aroma - certainly don't get a caffeine kick from turning it:oo:.

[Harry72]

:2tsup::2tsup:x2(yep thats quad thumbs up:D)