From burl to bowl.

LeifR

Willem wrote:
"Very beautiful wood work. Now I know what you Norwegians are doing in those long and dark winters.
I would be interested to see more and get to know your techniques as I'm a starting woodworker".

Well, we are doing a few other things too, during a dark and cold winter,..... !
But it has nearly been some sort of a proverb here, about craft and handwork as occupation during the winter. One or two hundred years ago people sat around the fireplace, chipping and repairing tools for the summer work in the fields. That was then, but we have therefore long traditions for different handworks in the winter.
Now, burls. Ekka wonders if the hard part is to find the burls. In a way yes, but the real hard part of it is to carry them home.... (Why isen't there a smile sweating terribly?) A lot of burls are so big that we'll need a tractor to carry them home.


This one is bigger than it looks, and it is absolutely necessary with a tractor to take it home. It is of course possible to cut it to pieces in the wood, but we see often that it is wise to thing it over several times before cutting, to get the best out of the burl. Once I got a burl from a logger, I used the whole summer to decide how to cut. And by the way, there will nearly always be a landowner to ask. We have very little wilderness and "no mans land" where anybody may do as he likes. Hmmm, do all Norwegian burlcollectors ask? Hardly!




Another neighbour owns this tree, it's still fresh. But it's terribly long to carry, and a whole trunc!


Having finally brought the nugget home, we may start a more pleasant part of the work: Find out what's inside. If we don't use the lathe, this tool will be very efficient, the treechewer.


It has become late evening, I'll go on some day later. I am eager to hear about your experiences. Go on while I am making more pics.


LeifR

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Eric Frei

I rarely get hold of burls of decent size.

Came across some eucs recently in a new section of roadwork and they had the trunks flush cut for the burls to be removed (damned terrible thing to do). But from the wound I could see how big the burl was, maybe 2' dia

Do keep pics updated, like to see the work in progress.

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LeifR

For some reason I couldn't embed one of my pictures (1762) in my first post. The idea about this picture was to show the result when I dawdled too long to ask a neighbour about this tree. I could nearly cry when I discovered that it was dead and badly rotted. Though, I cut it down and carried the pieces a rather long way. But I had to realize that it probably is an impossible project to make something useful out of this.



If you want to see a close up of the result.



I posted a picture of a machine, here are two other ones. One of them is Australian, I think.



Perhaps somebody wants to go the hard way and do the whole job by hand? Well, here is a trick:After having used several hand tools and produced a couple of pints of sweat, make a scraper from an old hand saw. Such scrapers are relly effective.





Here a scraper is demonstrated by a pupil making a wooden spoon. I would say, it's the key to get a good result.
And after that, sanding, sanding, and even more sanding.... .
LeifR

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willem

nice pictures LeifR. I have never seen the machines but I'll have a look around here if I can buy one. Do you have some names of the manufacturers of these machines? Last week I made a bowl out of a big branch. I will make some pictures of it tomorrow. It's only roughly cut out with the chainsaw. It' made out of Ulmus wood. The wood was still fresh when I cut it, is that a big problem??
Do you let your burls dry out first before you begin to shape them or do you also cut them fresh??
I also take some pictures of the burls I have maybe you have some ideas.

LeifR

Some manufacturer names: King Arthur, Lancelot, Merlin, Arbortech. I think Lancelot is just the chewing tool that may be mounted in several types og grinders.
The best thing to do is to work the bowls roughly out fresh, and let them dry slowly to avoid cracking. In the ends you may smear on something to slow down drying. There is a wax like stuff to be bought, glue (for wood) thinned out a bit with water is also good. Let them dry so slowly as possible at least some months. Burls crack a bit less because of the wood structure, but also here cracking may be a problem. Dry burls have sometimes so many cracks that it may be possible to let them be some sort of decoration in the bowl.
If the burl is fresh, I always start shaping it roughly before drying. Keep the thickness about a half to one inch depending on the size.
I am looking forward to your pics!
Leif.

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LeifR

Turning burls.

So far have we been talking about carving burls by hand or with a machine of some kind. Myself I prefer the lathe. Each woodturner has probably his own favorite trics, and here are some of mine.
This one is birch, and has grown on a rather big branch. First step was to decide what to do with the branch ends. In this case (lathe) they had to be cut off. The burl must be planed under to prevent tipping over at the band saw.



Faceplate attached with screws. Use one screw too much rather than one too little. Steel grid protects the window. Yes, I've learned the hard way! The lathe must be solid and heavy for this first turning. Try slowest possible speed at first, increase carefully. There might be quite vigorous vibrations until some wood has been turned off. Sometimes it has been necessary to support the lathe extra to keep it fairly steady. I wouldn't recommend a big burl for beginners.




First turning finished. The groove in the middle is for the chuck when the inside is going to be turned.
The burl was cut in August, therefore the bark is on. Some people think that bark, knots etc. are faults that destroy the bowl. May be, but we have two options: Turn the burl as it is, or put it in the stove. The choice is easy, I think, and some people just love such faults.




Inside turned. Since the burl is fresh, it must be turned twice. First time it ought to be an inch thick or so. In the middle we leave some wood. For the second turning when it has dried, we may drill a hole or glue on a piece of wood for the chuck.



At last the bowl must be smeared with wood glue or wax emulsion on the outside (not inside) to prevent cracking.
The bowl must now dry at least for several months, slowly in a cool place in the beginning.
Bowl or sculpture? I don't know.



LeifR

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Eric Frei

Very nice, love that look.

Out of round vibration and weight .... be careful alright!

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LeifR

Thanks, Ekka.
Yes, I am careful. I have crashed the window just once.

Leif.

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LeifR

I read 26th october 2008 in my last post. A year has passed by, the half finished bowl is now good and dry, ready for the last turning. It isn't necessary to let i dry that long, but the longer it dries, the more stabile will the bowl be. As a rule of thumb we say that planks shall dry one year pr inch of thickness for needlewood and the double for hardwood. So, it is a bad idea to take the second turning too early.
I don't intend to make a woodturning course, just to post some ideas about this type of work. Turning burls is not a task for beginners.


At first a picture to show how much wood may twist during tthe drying process. The smaller bowl right is from cherry, and will probably end up in the stove. The other one right is from ash, and it is perhaps possible to make a thin plate from that piece.


Two ways of mounting the bowl in the lathe: Drill a hole that suits the chuck, or glue a piece of wood to the bowl.




The second turning will be a bit alike the first one. Turning outside first, make a base for the chuck, then turn the final shape as good as possible. The "wings" will always be a problem. They vibrate a bit, and it is really difficult ( or impossible) to turn a smooth surface without grooves in the outer parts.





And, by the way, mind your fingers! Yes, it hurts. AU!


When turning the inside, finish one and one inch. If we try to make the whole bowl thinner and thinner, it will start vibrating before we get the right thickness. This is a problem for all bowlturning not only for burlbowls.


When the bowl is as finished as possible, we may sand the inner parts. The outer grooves must be removed by scrapers, files, belt sanders....

Sanding pads: Different types og foamed plastics. And once more, mind the fingers!


Good luck.
Leif

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Gunslinger

As always, great photo's Leif.

LeifR

Some new burl mugs. Birch, elm alder and pine. Made from quite small burls. One piece - one mug.

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George Valentine

Hi LeifR,

I read lots of your older posts right to recent times and you have been doing great work, mate...!

I'm also an woodturner and know well, all the steps you have shared with everyone here for some time. I have dedicated my last 7 years of my live, cutting and salvaging any wood I can from the local area, not only for my wood turnings but also to share with many other turners all around Australia and in fact the world, with native or introduced tree species that grow in my town, with the furthest distance being 25km where I source my Olive wood...!

The 98% of the 61 tree species that I have available at the moment, are all from this town, on the edge of the Adelaide Hills the Plateau (Fleureau Peninsula) and the Ocean. Rich soils and plenty of water, as made this area rich in vegetation of all sorts, temperatures and seasons of European style/type.

Due to this very weather and ground conditions, the area was populated by some of the first Settlers in Australia in middle 1800's, most of Chinese and European descent, explaining why so many introduced tree species are found in the area, lucky me...!

I stop people from burning their wood piles (when I see or know about it) in exchange for taking any usable wood away and then clean or burn the rest myself. I gathered a great % of my woods by requesting permission to do the tree trimmings or tree cutting free of charge, in exchange for the wood. This quickly created a situation that I had more offers that what I could do so I had to start being very selective and accept only the trees that had good wood for my turnings as I have already plenty of regular woods as firewood my my winter days...!

I would turn quite easily 1 tonne of wood/logs in a week, making large bowls and I really like to turn green wood so, in a small room such as the one where I have my wood lathes, I would finish the day with shavings up my knees and that was just great...!

I do a little less large wood turnings (dozens and dozens of unfinished bowls to do, some time, some day...) and I'm into pen turning a little more in our days, until I get the urge to make shavings and rip into a large chunk of wood, then I grab a log and turn the living life out of it, sometimes I finish it in one go, other times I put it a side after the rough turning, particularly the green woods.

I run sawdust in my veins since a little boy so, this is all expected, huh...???

PS: pic attached of a natural edge bowl and a ice-cream scoup I made not that long ago, both from the same wood, a unique to this area the She/Bull Oak.

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LeifR

Nice work nyodine! Really beautiful.

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http://www.youtube.com/user/MultiVoff

George Valentine

Thanks, mate...!

Cheers
George

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