Need some help.

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Pian

Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2021
Messages
29
Location
Florida, USA
So I got burls (they aren't stabilized) and I've only ever turned 1 stabilized burl before. Questions:

1. Do they need to be stabilized? Or can I turn it as is and just be careful with it?

2. What do you all do about worm holes? Put ca in it, resin (never used before)? How do you fill them?

3. What do you do with blanks like these? (See pictures)

1st picture to me looks as though the blank cracked in half. The resin or glue or whatever filling in the hole goes all the around the blank following a seam.

Thanks in advance for the advice,
Rafael
 

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magpens

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Feb 2, 2011
Messages
15,913
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Canada
You don't need resin. . Just use CA as you need to, and keep a close watch as you turn down to diameter .... add more CA (and coffee grounds) as necessary. . Use accelerator sparingly and with caution .... too much accelerator at once can cause smoking and if you see that happening stop and assess the situation. . If you see smoking the CA can go white .... try to avoid that discoloration. . This process calls for lots of patience.

As a "poor man's" stabilization process, you can buy some Wood Hardener at a paint store or in Home Depot. . "Minwax" is one brand but there are others. . Soak your questionable blank in that overnight and then let dry/cure for a couple of days. . That goes a long way to making "punky" wood more turnable. . But you still might need some CA, as you do your turning, to fill voids. . Wood hardener does not fill voids.
 

1080Wayne

Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2006
Messages
3,340
Location
Brownfield, Alberta, Canada.
The blank hasn`t cracked in half . The burl wasn`t totally dry when it was cut into blanks . It distorted as it finished drying . I would use just thin CA as the first step , no coffee grounds , to make certain that the dark layer is fully bonded to the rest . Agree with Mal on the accelerator caution .
 
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