general burl question.....

[Fitz]

I haven't turned burl before......are there any "gottchas" for burls in general or is it burl type specific. Any recommendations when turning burls?

Thanks!

 

[Fred]

Either buy stabilized burl blanks, or have the wood stabilized yourself, or use plenty of thin CA glue as you turn.

Scary sharp tools are always best to use ... and keep them scary sharp while turning.

Avoid at all times the dreaded "catch" that will eventually occur. IF this happens - and it just about always will - be sure to observe where and in what direction all the little pieces go so you can collect them for re-gluing. And, if this happens you ain't using enough thin CA so be prepared to use lots more.

 

[Sfolivier]

I'd have to say it really depends on the burl. Some of them are very solid and turn amazingly well (at least for pen size work). Others are fragile with pockets of barks, voids... I haven't found burls to be a real problem so far. My worst nightmare has been cross-cut palm... I haven't been able to have any success with this one...

 

[Rudy Vey]

As said already, it depends a bit on the burl. With Thuya, Amboyna, Redwood and Maple I have had so far no problems whatsoever, and I did lots of them. The only time I ran into a problem was when I turned Cherry burl, it had a lot of small voids and softer spots. I send it out for stabilization and it came out good. To use sharp tools for all turning is a given for me.

 

[Rifleman1776]

What the others have said, heed well.
Be prepared for blow-outs. It is part of the game. Happens. Find another blank and start over. If you are selling, consider losses as part of doing business and figure into selling price.
Worth the disappointments. Burls are beautiful.

 

[GoodTurns]

good advice all! I don't usually use STABILIZED burls, but most of mine are the rosewoods, amboyna and ironwood. you WILL find voids, take your time and don't try to plow through them. fill with CA whenever you hit an open pocket, let it harden, and start again. As Frank said, consider your "lost" burls part of the cost of the other burl pens you sell...that $10 blank is probably more like a $13-15 blank when you factor in the blow outs.

 

[Fitz]

Thanks for all the advice. I turned that coolibah burl yesterday. Used CA to fill voids and sealed it with thin CA along the way.

I have only been using CA for a short time but have had really good success with it so far. BUT.....on this burl pen, the blank came off the lathe looking great. I assembled it and was just tickled pink with the results. Later, there were areas that "magically" sunk.......The finish didn't crack or anything like that....it's like some of the fill in voids just suddenly compacted and the finish moved with the sunken surface.

The only thing I did different, I switched to a new brand of medium CA.

Luckily this was an "extra" but I think I'll avoid burls for a while.:redface:

 

[DustyDenim]

Fitz: When turning burls, I like to sweep off all wood chips from the lathe after roughing it down with the roughing gouge, and then switch to the skew like most people. If your skew is scary sharp you will produce a fine dust when taking light cuts and therefore if you do have a catch or blowout you can collect some of this fine dust which usually collects at the bottom of the tool rest and sprinkle it back into the void and apply thin ca to the dust in order to fill in and build up the void area. Just remember to sand this built up area back down level with the rest of the balnk before you start in with your skew again.
Most of the time you cannot tell that this filled in area ever had a blowout to begin with. Hope this helps.