When cutting burls into boards, cut finding wood for turning on boards 25 percent thicker than you'll need to allow for distortion during drying. Hope this helps. Was the wood dropped on rocky ground? If you are able to ln a fair amount of wood e. The same thing happened to me with local wood.

When cutting burls into boards, cut the boards 25 percent thicker than you'll need to allow for distortion during drying. Also, be aware that your cutting direction can make a difference in the figure's appearance, depending on the burl's grain pattern. Burls typically have either an eye figure or random, swirling grain. If you're cutting a burl with eye figure, the board will exhibit either eyes or radiant lines depending on the way you slice it, as shown on the drawing below.

How can you tell if the burl has eye figure? You can't be sure without taking a thin slice off the burl's top.

But, you generally can expect to find eye figure in maple, cherry, ash, and walnut burls. If a burl has swirling grain typical in mulberry, gum, and birch , you needn't be concerned about the cutting direction. Just cut it to get the best yield. In order to slow the release of moisture, seal the exposed end-grain surfaces on your cut pieces. It's not necessary to seal any oversize sections or Finding Wood For Turning 70 rounds that you plan to turn wet within 8 to 10 weeks.

Now, store oversize sections outside, off the ground, and sheltered from direct sun and rain. Keep the cut pieces inside. How long will it take the cut pieces to dry? This varies with temperature and humidity conditions. Thicker pieces can take up to 6 months. In order for the weight of your burl to be evenly distributed when turning it on the lathe, you'll need to flatten its back and round its outside, as shown in these photos.

Waiting about four weeks before turning the burl will allow initial moisture release to help stabilize the wood so there's less chance of distortion. Step 1: Chainsaw through the pith of the oversize section to remove the back half of the log while also flattening the back of the burl.

Step 2: Trim the excess trunk ends, then chainsaw along the sides of the burl to square it, as shown here. Step 3: Nail a cardboard disc of suitable size for a cutting guide to the burl's top. Band saw the burl round, following the disc. Tracing around miniature templates made of paper or thin scrapwood can be difficult because the Skip to main content.

In the photo, right, Plum Tree Wood For Turning Edge a red maple tree bulges with burls. Though eerie on the outside, these growths yield beautiful figure, as evidenced in the turnings below by Bruce Hoover. Start with the harvest Burls — those odd, bulbous growths on trees that result from an injury or disease — hold hidden treasures of exotic figure beneath their haunting exteriors.

Facebook Pinterest Twitter Text. South American spalting is off the chart with all kinds of colors and patterns that can appear almost surreal. During the Renaissance, wood with spalted features was used to make veneers that were applied to furniture, cabinetry, and even cut into individual shapes to create elaborate murals. Spalting in North American craftsmanship was pretty much a lost art until the late s when Melvin and Mark Lindquist began using spalted wood to produce amazing turned projects.

David Ellsworth discovered the technique of spalting as well in the s and began incorporating spalted wood in his icon hollow forms. For an extensively detailed history of spalting, read Spalted Wood by Sara Robinson.

Sara is the premier expert on spalted wood, and her book covers everything you can imagine about spalting. Great question. Downed trees or logs that have been left untouched for usually at least a few months may have spalt inside. Look at the end-grain of a log for lines or splotches that look like stains. You may need to cut off a clean area at the end of a log to see better.

Think of mushrooms as spore vehicles or a fungi transport system. If you want to make your spalt, which we will cover next, keep an eye out for mushrooms or fungus attached to downed wood. Look for downed trees with mushrooms on the outside and collect a few in a plastic zip-lock baggie.

You basically need two things to encourage the production of spalt in cut wood. Moisture and the presence of fungi are critical to forming spalt. Spalt promotion for me is effortless, I just have to wait a little while. You may need to take additional steps, which we will cover shortly.

To encourage spalt growth, I cut round logs longer than I need for bowl blanks and stand them on end on the ground.

I believe that contact with the ground is beneficial, but this may not be necessary. The fungus may already be in the wood and not introduced via the ground contact. An alternative possibility is the moisture coming from the ground may also help the spalting process. Once the wood is outside and in the elements, I wait. Like everything else in woodworking, every tree species is different. But, usually, between three to six months, spalting will begin to appear. The breathable canvas cloth is better than a plastic cover that can promote mold growth.

Also, if you use a plastic tote, make holes in the lid, or loosely attach the lid, so it too can breathe. Collect local mushrooms from rotted logs or leave a few logs out back in the weather. Eventually, you will probably find spalt inside these exposed logs. Introduce a few crushed up mushrooms or even a few cut off pieces of collected spalted logs to your new fresh pile and make sure it stays moist. Sara details exact scientific ways of controlling spalt, usually in small batches of contained wood samples.

The level of attention to detail needed to create some of the spalts she describes is overwhelming to me. But if you want to try to create a pink or turquoise spalt, she has the answers and even the spalting specimens for sale. The biggest myth about spalting is you need to feed it to make it grow. This is NOT true! Many people claim you need to add yeast, food scraps, or pour a beer over the wood to get the spalt to form. Not the case. When a tree dies, the symbiotic balance between the tree and the fungi stops.

At that point, fungi begin to consume the sugars in the wood. Another myth about spalt is peeing on the wood. Peeing on the wood is kinda funny, but it does nothing to aid the spalting process, except perhaps adding moisture. Every species of tree is different and can appear different when spalt is present. Some tree species show spalt from the pith to the bark, while others may only have spalt in the outer sapwood. When turning wood that only has spalt in one area or another is can be beneficial to Wood Turning Tools For Sale Near Me orient your bowl blank to best showcase the spalt.

Read this article next that describes in detail How to Best Orient Wood to get the best bowl blanks for turning. If you have a log with spalt only in the sapwood, it might be best to orient a bowl with the rim located along the cut log half.

However, if the spalting appears throughout the bowl blank, especially near the pith, a natural edge bowl can then highlight that spalt in the base of the bowl. In Easiest Wood For Turning Zip Code general, once a piece of wood has a desired amount of spalt, turn the wood as soon as possible.

If a spalted log is left for an extended period, all the other decaying forces will work to thoroughly break down the wood fibers until the piece is useless for turning. It is best to process a large pile of spalted wood into turned and round bowl blanks to open the wood, which presents oxygen and stops the rot.

Check out this article to learn all about twice turning bowl blanks. Once the majority of the bowl blank has been cut and shaped, the spalting and rotting process with slow dramatically.

When a bowl is rough turned or final turned with wood finish, the decaying process, if not too far along, will come to a complete stop. Even in the tiny lines of black zone spalt, there is enough mineral material to wear down a bowl gouge edge much faster than usual.

Expect your bowl gouge to dull faster when turning spalted wood and remember to sharpen your gouge more frequently. Also, because the mineral deposit found in spalt is much harder than the wood fibers, the gouge will cut unevenly. As the bowl rotates, the gouge is cutting softwood fibers, then hard mineral areas, and back and forth. It is common to hear a clicking sound or chattering when turning spalted wood because of the different densities between the spalt and the wood.

To make smooth cutting passes, apply downward pressure to the tool rest and do not press the gouge into the bowl blank. Make fluid motions focused on the tool rest downward pressure and let the wood come to the gouge tip. Is working with spalted wood dangerous?

Wood Carving Kit Home Depot 2020 Make A Frame In Html 60 Flush Trimming Edge Banding Free