Thread: Buckeye Burl

Gary, you could try using CA during the turning process. Just flood the wood with thin CA and let it dry naturaley then continue turning for a short time then repeat the process.

Terry

Was the buckeye burl you were turning stabilized? I've turned both and, if it was not stabilized, Schaf is perfectly correct. Non-stabilized buckeye burl is incredibly light and weak. You almost have to stabilize it yourself as you turn it. If you are buying stabilized blanks, I cannot help you. I've always found them to be rather easy to turn.

Beautiful pen though. Well worth the multiple efforts.

I dont think those buckeye were stabilised......all of them felt really light..... first time with buckeye..... and i was ready to give up....... hahaha

I'll give it a few more tries when more kits come in.......

BEB has always intrigued me and you have shown its character really well with a beautiful piece.

Originally Posted by garypeck

I dont think those buckeye were stabilised......all of them felt really light..... first time with buckeye..... and i was ready to give up....... hahaha

I'll give it a few more tries when more kits come in.......

If you are seeing tear-out as well, it's probably the sharpness of your tools. I've been turning non-stabilized BEB, and have found that the tools need to be super sharp and it helps if you up the speed on the lathe. Flooding it with CA helps too, but you'll have to reapply it as you lessen the diameter because wood doesn't absorb it very deep. As I work it down, I fill voids with CA and sawdust, so that's probably helping the tools from catching and blowing my blank. What I've found works for me is using a very sharp small spindle gouge - - I think it's a 1/4".
The BEB I've been getting is non-stabilized and only air dried. I've been weighing it, then putting it in the microwave (defrost for 2 cycles of 1.5 minutes - - allowing it to cool between cycles). My scale only goes to whole grams, but about half of the blanks show a loss of weight, so I know I'm cooking some moisture out of them. I don't know if this is helping, but it doesn't seem to be hurting either.
Alan