Punky burls

[Carole in VA]

I got a 5 piece variety burl pack from CS USA and decided to turn one of them (Oregon Myrtle Burl) tonight. When I opened the package, I noticed that all the blanks were very, very dry so I took extra care to sharpen my gouge really well. That blank was almost crumbly! Even with the lightest of touches, chunks fell out of it. I put some CA on it and just barely had enough wood to turn it down past the damage. Still had to patch it with CA and shavings on the cap end. Is it normal for burls to be that punky or is that what I get for ordering a bargain variety pack? Should they all be stabilized with CA?

 

[Gary]

Carol, I've turned quite a bit or Oregon Myrtle Wood including burls for bowls, and I've never found that to be the case. The Myrtle pen blanks I have are solid and dense. I wonder if the burl you have laid out and weathered a lot before it was cut?

 

[Carole in VA]

Originally posted by Gary
<br />Carol, I've turned quite a bit or Oregon Myrtle Wood including burls for bowls, and I've never found that to be the case. The Myrtle pen blanks I have are solid and dense. I wonder if the burl you have laid out and weathered a lot before it was cut?

Don't know, but it sure wasn't solid and it was very light weight. Here is a pic of the pen. The cap end was much worse than the nib end of the blank.

 

[Gary]

Is that spalting on the upper barrel? If it is, that would be further evidence of weathering of the burl. Oregon Myrtle (burl or not) is not normally like you describe.

Try soaking them in Pentacryl then let them dry before turning and use thin CA as you go.

 

[Scott]

Hi Carole,

Burl can be very flakey at times. If it feels light like the one you just turned, you might want to take a few precautions. There are some home-brew stabilizing methods that would help. A simple one is to mix water and white glue until it's kind of soupy, and soak the blank in it at least overnight, then dry it for a couple of days. If you can pick up some Minwax wood hardener, soak your blanks in that overnight. Some of our members have been soaking in polyurethane finish with the assistance of an inexpensive vacuum pump. Some have even dissolved plexiglass in acetone and used it as a soak. If you cut the blanks it helps. If you also drill the blanks it soaks in even better.

The good part is that the really nasty ones are quite often the most spectacular! That pen you show above looks pretty nice to me!

Scott.

 

[jwoodwright]

I've had simular situation. CSU encloses a note for "seasoning" the wood. I used lots of thin CA. [8D]

 

[Fred in NC]

Carole, if you have any cut-offs from the pen, I would try the white glue on it and see how it works. It is the most inexpensive way to go. Make sure it is carpenter's white glue, and not school glue.

Very nice pen, by the way. Looks great!