Burl on a Stick

[William Rogers]

That is what a turner friend called it. This is the first burl I have ever had. Trying to determine the best turning of this piece. It measures 12” X 8” and about 4” thick. I think it is maple, but I guess it could be beech. So would you turn it from the burl side being the base or the “stick” side being the base? Do you turn it wet, let it dry, or twice turn it?

Any info appreciated.

 

[Mark Wollschlager]

Hard to say how much you have to work with before picking the bark off of the burl.
There may be voids or rot that may limit your options a little.
I would treat the width of the "stick" ( the height of the burl ) as part of the burl. The burl figure may extend into the stick and you wouldn't want to cut it off.
That is where a tenon would go.
Turning to finish would be my choice. I wouldn't wait for it to dry.

 

[Gary Beasley]

Looks like more fun than a jalapeño on a stick! Take a few picture as you work it down, love to see whats inside.

 

[hockenbery]

looks like fun- regardless of what you find
I would first try to get a sense of the structural integrity.
Identify Major bark inclusions, punky wood if any.

if that is a hole in the center I would probe around inside it with a screw driver. May be better suited for two small hollow forms than one large one.

if it is all punky maybe it becomes a bunch of ornament balls using one of the stabilization techniques.

I have used a lot of burls with the wood part mounted to a face plate. This gets solid wood as the mounting point and the pretty burl on the top to show itself off.

My first thought would be am 11-12” diameter hollow form.
Assuming what I can learn about the integrity supports the idea,
I would decide where the opening an center of the HF would be and the rip the log section close to the pith so that I can cut the blank round on the bandsaw.
Then drill a shallow 1” hole for the opening to solid wood on the drill press put a spur drive in the opening then rough turn it between centers and turn a mounting place for a faceplate.

the rough turning will teach me a lot about the structure of the burl and allow me to reposting the tail center to get more burl surface or position the opening of a void.

never quite sure what you get when turning a burl like that.

 

[William Rogers]

Well here is the progress to the burl on a stick. I ended up putting a faceplate on the stick side once I found what I felt would be the best position. However is was a little off center and ended up shearing the tenon even with tailstock support. I ended up moving it slightly more centered to the stick diameter. It is a fairly solid burl. I did come across one lead slug fairly small, but no hard metal. Right now I have a fairly long neck and a 1” opening. I found my 1/2” John Jordan tools worked the best. It’s hollowed to about 5/8” thick and has been filled with shavings and put in a paper bag to dry. The best I was able to do was a 8” diameter and 5+” tall. So I’m thinking of adding feet and wondering if I should shorten the opening. Opinions?
Pictures before hollowing.

 

[hockenbery]

Nice shape.

I would have gone a little thinner on the wall 3/16” or so to hasten the drying.
probably too late to make it thinner as the 5/8 walls may vibrate too much to thin the walls.

Burls are not too sensitive to wall thickness since there is little or no grain.

nice shape

 

[William Rogers]

Nice shape.

I would have gone a little thinner on the wall 3/16” or so to hasten the drying.
probably too late to make it thinner as the 5/8 walls may vibrate too much to thin the walls.

Burls are not too sensitive to wall thickness since there is little or no grain.

nice shape

Can you explain "probably too late to make it thinner as the 5/8 walls may vibrate too much to thin the walls”? Is that because of the voids and out of balance? I was thinking I could do some cleanup in the hollowing after it dries. I figured I would wrap in tape and use a steady rest. I did use a steady rest in the hollowing mainly because it had sheared the tenon initially.

 

[hockenbery]

When I hollow hollow forms or bowls
I first get most of the wood out of the inside center but leave thick walls and mass in the bottom so there is a lot of wood between where I am cutting and the mounting point so that the wood does not vibrate a lot.

5/8” wall would likely be thick enough to support More hollowing at the rim on a 5” diameter piece.
Pretty iffy on a 12” diameter piece and most unlikely on a 14” diameter piece

As far as supporting a second turn when dry -Maybe - depending on size. But you have to turn both the outside and inside. The even wall is a desired feature to show in the void widows.

After returning the outside the walls will be thinner - more vibration when hollowing and hollow an interrupted cut on a warped surface sets up vibration like crazy unless you take light light cuts.

another issue is the wood surrounding the voids. The flaps can be tapped effectively when hollowing green because the tape keeps them from vibrating inward where they would suddenly present more wood and break rather than cut.
In the dried form these will twist inward and outward requiring light cuts. The tips of these flaps will like be the proudest spots inside and out. Pretty easy to break them off.

Burls - May dry almost round because there is little grain. The surface will almost always dry with a rippled surface because of the different densities of the burl wood.

I once turn hollow forms. They go oval from the top view but still look round from the side view.

 

[William Rogers]

Thanks for the clarification and info. I’m most likely thicker at the bottom and believe I will be ok when dry.