Briar Root Burl

[Daner]

I have this Briar Root Burl 10" semi round
I'm deciding weather to make 2 bowls by slicing It In half
or use the whole burl for a vase or a deeper bowl.

Here's a question, where do I make the cut?
And whats best mounting procedure ?

here's a few pics

Thanks IA .......Dan

[Daner]

I'm thinking I should cut It right through the center of the tree branch

Here's one more I have

[fgvanatta]

The first one looks like a one vase burl to me; the second I would cut like you said and make two bowls.

[kevinT in T Bay]

Dan,
I don't think the burl wants to be cut... it's looks like it's shooting you the finger..LOL., Good luck, ultimately, the decision will be over in less than one minute...

[Leo Van Der Loo]

We are looking at just one burl I think, right ??
The second and third picture show the flat area where the tree is cut off ??
And the last picture is the taproot sticking up ??
The first picture must be the one side, it's kind of hard to tell exactly what you have and any folds or the telltale texture of the bark that might give a better picture of what's underneath.
If this is all true in what I think I see, I'd think a closed form or hollow form would give you the most of what's in there, even if there would be openings when hollowing it out.
Of course you can cut it in two halves and make two bowls, but I don't feel that's the best you can do with it, but again it's very hard to tell and even holding it it might not be easy to decide, but you've got the ball, so.......

[fgvanatta]

I think he's talking about two different burls there, Leo: the first three pix are one burl and the 4th another. At least that's the way I read it.

[toolboy]

Gosh - it would make a very nice smoking pipe! I have made two pipes so far and despite it being a lot of work, the results were quite acceptable. I even smoke it. I have made desk pen bases and a round clock face from briar burls but would just LOVE to see a bowl. Good luck

[Mapleview]

Daner . X-ray vision would be nice to have to see whats inside . I'm thinking its up to you where and when , should be exciting what ever you do .

[Norm]

Dan, I would do a natchural edge hollow form with voids.
Norm

[Daner]

Thanks guys...there are 2 burls here, The last pic Is the 2nd burl with the trunk.
I got some farm stuff to do here this am...And after that I'm going to get 1 burl on the lathe,And see what I can make from It......I will snap some pics as I go along

Dan

[Daner]

The first Burl Is on the lathe
Its not going too bad except for the dry cracks
I'm not sure just how deep they go
The big crack Is not showing on the Inside,So I think I'm going to take some more off the outside shape
I'm also wondering If I should try to fill that cracked area with some sawdust and CA (If It goes too deep) Or just try to turn It out.

One thing for sure this burl Is real dry

Comments or sugestions are welcome

ps: the last pic show the cracks that I'm concerned about

Daner

[Daner]

Its not turning out as go0d as I thought It would

My natural edge Is off

Can I torch the edge?

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Dan you could get some thicker CA to prevent those cracks to open up, I wouldn't try to put saw dust in them, they will show no matter what, and the saw dust will likely prevent the Ca to fill it properly, so you end up with air pockets in the glue-line.

Oops, hadn't seen the second post

Oh I see you have turned the edge away in the next post, why ??, probably like I've done it a time or two, too late by the time it sinks in ;-((
You still want the natural edge, not going to be easy, you have to cut somehow a more jagged edge and then you could try to burn some away, so it looks like an natural edge (it wont I think, but try anyway).
You happen to have some slit cutters you can mount in a drill ??, bandsaw could do do some also.

Just thinking here, what about a rough chainsaw cut ?? I've left some pieces with the chainsaw cuts showing on the edge/rim.

I see a nice smooth curve on the outside and not too bad on the inside either, you should be able to sand the ridges out, just start with good coarse sandpaper, 60 or 80 gritt and keep the speed down on the sandpaper and the bowl, or you will get too much heat and caseharden the wood, good chance for heat checks also if you go to fast or too fine paper.

I'll add a couple of picture that show how I did some burls, just to give you some ideas, they are not the best, but it might help to start the imagination
Burl shaping.jpg Burl shaping1.jpg burl shaping 2.jpg Burl shaping 3.jpg Burl shaping4.jpg

[Daner]

Thanks Leo , And your right about me forgetting about the edge........I was thinking I was doing a good thing,till I stopped the lathe and 1/2 the edge was gone

Anyway Its wrapped up In the shop ,And I'm going down there to get some more shape to the bottom
And to try to make the edged look rustic a bit

Thanks for those pictures,It gives me a better prespective of what the outcome should look like

I'm turning this right to the finish

[Mapleview]

Daner .to remake a natural edge I think will be a very challenging and time consuming and a practice piece of the same wood to get the match right , DAMHIK.

[Daner]

Daner .to remake a natural edge I think will be a very challenging and time consuming and a practice piece of the same wood to get the match right , DAMHIK.

Hi Randy....Your right, I do have 1 more of these Burls
I'm now considering this to be more of a learning experience for me.
I realize a few bad things i have done so far.
The next one I will cut In 1/2 and make 2 from the 1
But In the meen time I'm going to try to make this one look not too bad to the lathe I gooooooo

[Daner]

Looks like I'm finished this burl
Turned out to be 7"wide-6"tall
Sanded to 1000
1 coat of Tung Poly
Cut the edge with a saw and a file

Thanks for looking

[Grillzy]

Nice save! But in reality that is just part of the process.
Grillzy

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Looks like I'm finished this burl
Turned out to be 7"wide-6"tall
Sanded to 1000
1 coat of Tung Poly
Cut the edge with a saw and a file

Thanks for looking

And a new lesson and more experience under your belt, it certainly looks better, though still a little too even on the one part of the rim, yes just IMO .
No matter what, I think you did a very good job Dan, it has been only a very short time since you started turning, and here you are turning a closed form, thet certainly calls for a

[fgvanatta]

Good job. A lot of projects will go like this, but it's the end product that counts.