I have the opportunity to take down a large, perfectly symmetrical pine burl. I am curious if anyone has any experience turning this species of burl. I have researched it a bit and it seems like it is a difficult thing to turn. Anyone have any experience to share? Thank you in advance!
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Pine burl turning experience?
- Thread starter Dan Cross
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- Feb 28, 2021
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might want to wear a full body hazmat suit or you might spend the next 3-6 months waiting for your hair to grow back after giving up at trying to clean all the pine pitch out and shaving your head , having to replace the clothes you were wearing and dealing with a nice fat racing stripe of pine resin on floor, walls & ceiling (plus lathe) I'd imagine a pine burl is going to be full of very sticky pitch... (I have already tried turning green pine, as you might have guessed, and it wasn't even burl...)
I turned some spruce burl, it was fairly plain grained, in comparison to something like maple burl. Swirling grain but not very tight. What I turned had been down for years so was pretty dry. Like Brian i turned green pine/spruce once in my life, I lost some arm hair for sure.
Donna Banfield
TOTW Team
I had a club member who owned some property on an island off Nova Scotia. He frequently harvested spruce pine burls, and brought them to club meetings for wood swaps. I was the ‘lucky’ one (or so I thought), to get two of them.
The first one I put on the lathe, shaped the outside, going great. It was about 12-14” in diameter, and I was planning on a hollow form, a southwest, similar to a Kevin Jesequel shape; wide and somewhat flat or squished.
About 3” in, I hit a small pitch pocket. Small, in that a little bit flew out of the 2” opening, but not serious enough to need a hazmat suit. I kept going. Halfway in, I hit another pocket, and this one was a motherlode. That pitch went everywhere. My lathe bed, my Jamieson Hollowing setup, including the secondary tool rest, my entire face shield and turning smock AND my shoes. Not just my task lighting at the lathe, but the two 8 foot fluorescent tubes on the ceiling, and a jointer that was about 4 feet away. I took that burl off the lathe, and spent the rest of the day cleaning. Gave away the second one.
The first one I put on the lathe, shaped the outside, going great. It was about 12-14” in diameter, and I was planning on a hollow form, a southwest, similar to a Kevin Jesequel shape; wide and somewhat flat or squished.
About 3” in, I hit a small pitch pocket. Small, in that a little bit flew out of the 2” opening, but not serious enough to need a hazmat suit. I kept going. Halfway in, I hit another pocket, and this one was a motherlode. That pitch went everywhere. My lathe bed, my Jamieson Hollowing setup, including the secondary tool rest, my entire face shield and turning smock AND my shoes. Not just my task lighting at the lathe, but the two 8 foot fluorescent tubes on the ceiling, and a jointer that was about 4 feet away. I took that burl off the lathe, and spent the rest of the day cleaning. Gave away the second one.
Thanks for the replies, you guys just saved me a lot of trouble!!
That's a quick pass for me because of above stated experiences
I taught myself bowl turning using green incense cedar blocks salvaged from an arborist's pile. Not a terrible amount of resin (at least no liquid pockets that I remember). but plenty of sticky goo on my hands, tools, and lathe to clean up afterward. Smelled great while turning, like being in a pencil factory.
My only experience with a pine burl can be summed up in one word . . . Boring. No true burl figure, uniform colour, and yes, lots of pitch. I pass on them now.