For the love of burl

[FarmerTan]

Thank you, Sir. I am just an amateur in the midst of a bunch of great turners.

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Brother, I have a feeling the only way you are an amateur is because you ain't charging, lol.

 

[D.S Thomson]

Those are beautiful! Very nice finish as well.

If you plan on turning a lot of burls I suggest getting a vacuum pump, chamber, and toaster oven so you can stabilize them first. It eliminates the tearout you’re experiencing - which is common with burls - so they will sand easier/faster/better when prepping them for a finish. It’s a nice setup to have for spalted wood too (which I love almost as much as burls), and also for stabilizing pine cones, sweet gum pods, or any other organic material before casting in resin. For some burls it’s a necessity. I have some pyinma burl blanks that are gorgeous but impossible to turn without stabilizing first, and the redwood burl I’ve turned is very difficult even after it’s been stabilized.

Thanks very much for this..great reply..I tried the Pyinma a couple of days ago for the first time, and it just shattered...haha...I will investigate stabilizing equipment/products. I have learned a lot from your posts here.
Thank you...Dave

 

[D.S Thomson]

Just curious e are you selling these sets ?

Hi Steve,

I started by giving them away to friends and family...and still do. When I was working I made sets for guys for cost, but I am retired now..so it's pretty quiet. It's just a hobby I do for fun..I did try to keep track of all expenses and stuff, but it was looking pretty scary so I stopped.
dave

 

[D.S Thomson]

Does your box elder have red in it? That can be a beautiful wood. I've heated the house with that stuff a lot of times!

thanks Dave...I have not tried it yet, but will keep a look out...cheers

 

[Graydog]

They look really nice Dave, I was just wondering if you had them all lined up in your shave den . Are you using the CA finish ?

 

[CigarSmoka]

I’ll be happy to answer any questions you have if you start stabilizing. The main thing is the wood needs to be bone dry. I just bake it at 230F for several hours - until it stops losing weight - then seal in a ziplock until it cools, otherwise it will absorb moisture from the air. Even kiln dried wood absorbs moisture until it balances with the relative humidity in your area so baking it is a necessity. For some reason a lot of vids don’t mention this even though it’s crucial to getting consistent results.

You can stabilize it as you turn with thin CA, but it’s not consistent. Some burls will be fine, some will laugh at you as they’re blowing apart. It wouldn’t hurt to try it if you’re getting bad tearout though. Stay away from Minwax wood hardener, it’s garbage. It doesn’t soak into the wood very well and if you try it under vacuum the fumes will ruin your pump. Which is exactly why I’m on my second one!

It had to be an awful sight seeing that beautiful pyinma burl blow apart. It happened to me with a gorgeous piece of thuya burl, I could’ve cried. It would’ve been easier on my soul burning the money...

 

[D.S Thomson]

They look really nice Dave, I was just wondering if you had them all lined up in your shave den . Are you using the CA finish ?

Hi Steve,

The brush and razor get about 20-25 coats of thin CA...the stand spindle maybe a dozen.
Pits and cracks are filled with med CA.

The wooden bases are treated with a wipe on poly...20 coats or so.

Not sure how they will hold up...the guys at the wood shop where I pick up some local maple burl tell me the bark will come off eventually no matter what...they suggest removing it at the beginning, and using epoxy to re-attach it, or just leave it off...I"ll see what happens..( If I live that long.)

Dave

 

[D.S Thomson]

I’ll be happy to answer any questions you have if you start stabilizing. The main thing is the wood needs to be bone dry. I just bake it at 230F for several hours - until it stops losing weight - then seal in a ziplock until it cools, otherwise it will absorb moisture from the air. Even kiln dried wood absorbs moisture until it balances with the relative humidity in your area so baking it is a necessity. For some reason a lot of vids don’t mention this even though it’s crucial to getting consistent results.

You can stabilize it as you turn with thin CA, but it’s not consistent. Some burls will be fine, some will laugh at you as they’re blowing apart. It wouldn’t hurt to try it if you’re getting bad tearout though. Stay away from Minwax wood hardener, it’s garbage. It doesn’t soak into the wood very well and if you try it under vacuum the fumes will ruin your pump. Which is exactly why I’m on my second one!

It had to be an awful sight seeing that beautiful pyinma burl blow apart. It happened to me with a gorgeous piece of thuya burl, I could’ve cried. It would’ve been easier on my soul burning the money...

So here's the original piece of Pyinma...I glued the pieces back together, and then rubbed CA on it, turned it to shape,
rubbed some more CA and then did the final turn before sanding. You can see the cracks where it shattered, so I did not do the full finishing routine.

Is that kinda the process you were referring to regarding stabilizing with CA ?? Not sure it had any effect. I switched out carbide tips, and went with a negative rake cutter, and really took my time. Again, not sure that mattered or not.

Thanks Dave...

 

[Lightcs1776]

So here's the original piece of Pyinma...I glued the pieces back together, and then rubbed CA on it, turned it to shape,
rubbed some more CA and then did the final turn before sanding. You can see the cracks where it shattered, so I did not do the full finishing routine.

Is that kinda the process you were referring to regarding stabilizing with CA ?? Not sure it had any effect. I switched out carbide tips, and went with a negative rake cutter, and really took my time. Again, not sure that mattered or not.

Thanks Dave...







View attachment 1015167

That is really an impressive piece.

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[D.S Thomson]

Cocobolo is some great wood. Hard and beautiful. I would love to see the results.

As far as wood being too dry, I have had some softer wood, such as soft maple, that was easier to turn when wet than when very dry.

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Hi Chris,

Here it is. Not as colourful as some of the new material that I have purchased, but it was very nice to work with.
Those long thin ribbons coming off when rounding it out.really smooth..very dense. Also the most odiferous wood I have come across so far.

Maybe sitting around for 50 years makes it duller and smellier....(my wife said to describe the wood..not the wood worker.) I'm shipping it out to my brother in law in the morning. He is not a dedicated shaver..yet..hence the disposable head.

Dave

 

[Lightcs1776]

Hi Chris,

Here it is. Not as colourful as some of the new material that I have purchased, but it was very nice to work with.
Those long thin ribbons coming off when rounding it out.really smooth..very dense. Also the most odiferous wood I have come across so far.

Maybe sitting around for 50 years makes it duller and smellier....(my wife said to describe the wood..not the wood worker.) I'm shipping it out to my brother in law in the morning. He is not a dedicated shaver..yet..hence the disposable head.

Dave


View attachment 1015247

Looks beautiful. I have only worked with it once, and you brought out the beauty of the wood far better than I did. I love the grain in the brush handle.

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[CigarSmoka]

Oh wow that’s beautiful! Wood darkens with age due to oxidation and UV exposure, which is why you describe it as not as colorful. I think there’s a richness to the color that can only come with time, like a 20 year old unstained piece of furniture made from cherry vs a new one.

As for stabilizing with thin CA... generally you need to keep adding it every several passes. As soon as it shows tearout it’s time to add more. Thin CA dries pretty fast but it’s still time consuming. Don’t use accelerator, in time it will give an ugly yellowish color. I think that’s a pretty good save. You can put thin CA in the cracks and rub the shavings into it then more CA, sand, repeat until smooth, it does a pretty good job of masking the cracks. I sometimes have to do it on my burl pens even if they’ve been stabilized to hide voids that are too large for the stabilizing resin to fill in.

 

[D.S Thomson]

Oh wow that’s beautiful! Wood darkens with age due to oxidation and UV exposure, which is why you describe it as not as colorful. I think there’s a richness to the color that can only come with time, like a 20 year old unstained piece of furniture made from cherry vs a new one.

As for stabilizing with thin CA... generally you need to keep adding it every several passes. As soon as it shows tearout it’s time to add more. Thin CA dries pretty fast but it’s still time consuming. Don’t use accelerator, in time it will give an ugly yellowish color. I think that’s a pretty good save. You can put thin CA in the cracks and rub the shavings into it then more CA, sand, repeat until smooth, it does a pretty good job of masking the cracks. I sometimes have to do it on my burl pens even if they’ve been stabilized to hide voids that are too large for the stabilizing resin to fill in.

Ok thanks very much...good tips...Dave

 

[sanch]

Beautiful work sir! Wish I learned wood turning, I can run a manual metal lathe well enough to make handles but a wood turning lathe is a different animal! You should try a hand vacuum pump and some cactus juice stabilizer it's how I used to do my knife handles until I built a chamber and got a pump. I used a mason jar for the chamber till I made one. It works just takes longer and definitely dry your piece before but make absolutely sure it's cooled because the stabilizer is heat activated!! Again beautiful work!!!

 

[D.S Thomson]

Thanks very much...and thanks for the info ..I will investigate.
Dave