Dakota Burl

[hilltopper46]

Dakota burl on Black Titanium Cigar, with CA finish.

I have wanted to turn one of these for quite a while, and in fact have had the blank for over a year. It was an interesting experience. One of the hardest materials I ever turned.

It does have an interesting appearance. Thanks for looking. Comments are welcome.

 

[workinforwood]

Looks really good Tony. Those are a tough blank to pull off.

 

[Bree]

Looks like a great job! I have two of those blanks. What were the problems and how did you solve them so well?
:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:

 

[hilltopper46]

Bree;

first of all there are no shavings, just a kind of a dust, both when you drill and when you turn.

I have a pretty good Sorby spindle gouge that makes short work of materials such as antler or Tru-Stone. When I sharpened it, it was good for one or maybe two passes before it needed to be resharped. My 1/2-inch Sorby skew that I used 90% or more of the time for turning pens would hardly touch it.

So, I started using a scraper to bring it to size, which worked better, but took a couple chunks out of the blank. I put some of the dust into the holes and glued it place with thin CA, and then took the blank back down with the Sorby skew. The good thing is you cannot see the repairs because they blend right in with the 'grain' of the blank.

Good luck with your efforts.

 

[Bree]

I wonder if a carbide shearing tool might have worked better? I have a Sorby tool that makes 45 degree shearing cuts. The carbide might work better with this material.

 

[Mrs Rojo22]

Very nice!

Robin

 

[hilltopper46]

I was thinking while I turned it that if I had a carbide insert tool this would be the stuff to try it out on. Go for it!

I wonder if a carbide shearing tool might have worked better? I have a Sorby tool that makes 45 degree shearing cuts. The carbide might work better with this material.