Willy's Burl Blasting area

**Willy Nelson** · 1st January 2017, 09:45 PM

Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen
For years I have relied upon the generosity of mates to use their high pressurewater blaster within their yards for blasting burls. When I built my vast new workshoplast year, I decided I needed to design and build a purpose built blastingarea to remove the bark and detritus from burls prior to turning or carving them.This is what I came up with from my previous experiences.
I found theaction of using high pressure water to remove the bark etc a dirty and messyactivity and cold activity. Inevitably, I would end up covered in water andpieces of bark from splash back. Whilst this cannot be avoided, I decided thata good design would reduce the occurrence of this happening.
Previously, Ihave used old pallets to rest the burls on, old boards etc when blasting. So Ineeded something that was strong, yet would allow the debris to pass throughokay, and also prevent the burls from shifting whilst being blasted. I had somegalvanized mesh (with 100 x 100 spaces) from a previous build (wine rack fromhell), so thought that the mesh would work well. I was half right. The weightof the burls and the force of the jet caused the burls to bounce on the mesh,so I braced it up with a steel cross member. Perfect!!!!

The location ofthe blasting area has a natural drop due to an embankment, so any material andwater would drain away from me and at the same time, water the trees and shrubsin the area, who may also benefit from the bark as a mulch. I have lined thedrain area with large 600 x 600mm pavers as a spillway.

You will noticethat I have laid the bricks to raise the mesh at the back, thus presenting theburls to me for ease of access. I screwed the mesh and the steel brace totimber boards.

This has workedbrilliantly for me, and also a few of my wood turning mates. The concept hasproved extremely beneficial for me, so when I get some time, I will cement thepavers in place, and then mount the boards to the top of the pavers to make itmore permanent.

I have noticedthat I do not get as wet or dirty with this configuration, but it is stillconsidered a summer occupation.
By way of PPE,I wear crocs (safety ones of course), a raincoat, eye and ear protection.
The highpressure water blaster is approximately 2000 psi and a flow rate of 21 litresper minute, IIRC.
The photoincludes burls from Peppermint and Jarrah trees. It shows the side and front view of the blasting area

Cheers

Willy
Jarrahland

**BobL** · 1st January 2017, 11:53 PM

Love it - especially the PPE!

**Paul39** · 2nd January 2017, 05:20 AM

Willy,

I just went looking for Picasa to suggest you try that for managing photos. I find Picasa no longer available but replaced with Google Photos, which I have not tried. I am using Linux Ubuntu operating system which uses Gimp photo editor, that I have had to learn from scratch.

On second thought I wonder if your posted photos were correct when you uploaded but sideways on my viewing.

**pommyphil** · 2nd January 2017, 07:34 AM

No Paul, they're sideways on Win 10 Chrome for me, yours are right way up. Phil

**Willy Nelson** · 2nd January 2017, 07:57 AM

Morning Gents
This isannoying, the orientation of the photos. They were correct when I uploadedthem, but upon display, they had rotated. Previous photos, done exactly thesame had mixed results. The lathe photos were done ½ hour earlier, theydisplayed correctly. Not sure why.
I was using thedaughters Ipad, but this always seemed to rotate them, nowadays. Thus I resorted to emailing them from herIpad to the desktop. I check their orientation (including sexual, sorry..) and thenupload them with varying degrees of success.
Sorry, can’tadd any more than that
Willy
Reasonable woodturner, crap photographer

**Paul39** · 2nd January 2017, 12:56 PM

Willy,

Reasonable woodturner, crap photographer

No, you just haven't yet beaten the Ipad into submission.

I did a little searching, and as I suspected, information embedded in your photos is causing them to flip.

See: https://www.ecwid.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10746

This purports to remove the information without harming the image:

BatchPurifier LITE - Free Metadata Removal Tool

Do the images flip over if the IPad is held in the landscape position (wider than high)? If not, that may be the solution without having to do a lot of mucking about.

I'm a retired photographer who took my first photos for money at age 15 in 1955. I love digital photography and the ease of making photos and adjusting them with a computer. I ABSOLUTELY HATE when the camera, computer, or printer does something that I have not told it to do.

In case you are up for your own camera: Best digital cameras under $100 dollars 2016

**Willy Nelson** · 2nd January 2017, 03:21 PM

Originally Posted by Paul39

Willy,

I just went looking for Picasa to suggest you try that for managing photos. I find Picasa no longer available but replaced with Google Photos, which I have not tried. I am using Linux Ubuntu operating system which uses Gimp photo editor, that I have had to learn from scratch.

On second thought I wonder if your posted photos were correct when you uploaded but sideways on my viewing.

Morning Gents
This is annoying, the orientation of the photos. They were correct when I uploaded them, but upon display, they had rotated. Previous photos, done exactly the same had mixed results. The lathe photos were done ½ hour earlier, they displayed correctly. Not sure why.
I was using the daughters Ipad, but this always seemed to rotate them, nowadays. Thus I resorted to emailing them from her Ipad to the desktop. I check their orientation and then upload them with varying degrees of success.
Sorry, can’t add any more than that
Willy
Reasonable wood turner, crap photographer

**Willy Nelson** · 3rd January 2017, 11:27 AM

Originally Posted by Paul39

Willy,

No, you just haven't yet beaten the Ipad into submission.

I did a little searching, and as I suspected, information embedded in your photos is causing them to flip.

See: https://www.ecwid.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10746

This purports to remove the information without harming the image:

BatchPurifier LITE - Free Metadata Removal Tool

Do the images flip over if the IPad is held in the landscape position (wider than high)? If not, that may be the solution without having to do a lot of mucking about.

I'm a retired photographer who took my first photos for money at age 15 in 1955. I love digital photography and the ease of making photos and adjusting them with a computer. I ABSOLUTELY HATE when the camera, computer, or printer does something that I have not told it to do.

In case you are up for your own camera: Best digital cameras under $100 dollars 2016

Thanks for that, I am in the market for a camera
The rest sounds just tooooooo hard.
But I will look when I have more time and I appreciate you taking the time to respond
Sincerely
Willy

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