Eucalyptus Burl (HELP)

[tntwoodcrafts]

All right now!! I have a situation here that requires some input from turners that have turned Eucalyptus Burl. My customer from Texas sent me the wood, it was wax coated which tells me now it was cut and coated immediately and is wet. I turned the blanks and they were wonderful to turn. I buffed them up to a nice shine without any finish and left them for a couple hours before assembling the pen because I emailed the customer to see if he wanted the little worm holes filled and was waiting his reply. He didn't. That is not my dilemma. The blanks ended up bumpy and I can see some cracks starting to form. Shades of my snake-wood experience. What now? Sand all the wax off and let the blanks sit for X# of weeks? HELP!!
TH

 

[exoticwo]

Hello Terry,
Do you have more wood that you can start over with? If so, cut your blanks long and over sized and try to microwave them wrapped in a paper towel to get them dry.
If you only have the one set then you might be able to wet sand and get the dust to fill the cracks. Since you already turned the blanks down there isn't much moisture left and this might save them. Almost all wood covered in wax, esp. Aussie Burls, take a long time to dry.

 

[tntwoodcrafts]

Thanks for your reply Albert. This is a new wood to me and was only sent 5 blanks, (3/4 x 6) enought to do 5 pens. I have not touched the other blanks as I saw what happened to the first one. The one I turned will have to wait until it dries then I will attempt to restore it useable. The wood has even shrunk away from the end of the tube on the lower barrel and unless I can restore the end it will probably end up in my turner wood pile. I'm waiting for the other shoe to hit the floor now. I would assume I have to scrape the wax off before putting them in the microwave!! Thanks again!
Terry

 

[fstepanski]

Shrinkage with wet wood is expected, and is some what predictable.. Figured wood which is wet i.e. burl is really unpredictable as it dries.

You may want to drill a smaller hole than required, rough turn, and allow some time for air drying. You can accelerate the drying process by boiling the snot out of em.

 

[tntwoodcrafts]

Thank you for your comment............LOL! This was an unfamiliar wood to me supplied by a customer so he decided to buy some nice Alder Burl I have in stock that is dry and ready to use. He also sent me some Snakewood which I had to inform him that this wood is yucky and what happens to it. If he thought he was saving money by supplying his own wood, it ended up costing more.....good for me though! I will be sending these blanks back to him with his order. Thanks again, much appreciated!
Terry

 

[SteveRussell]

Hello,

I turn a lot of Aussie burrs and they can be unpredictable at times... If the wood has fully reached EMC, they are very nice timbers to turn. Some of the Aussie burrs can shrink quite a bit on the way to EMC (gross deformation, cellular collapse, significant fissures etc), so over cutting is the norm. The wax can be easily removed with solvents, but it sounds like you've got it covered with your own wood. Good luck to you and best wishes!