Playing with Burl:)

An area to upload images of pieces cut using VCarve Pro
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scottp55
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Playing with Burl:)

Post by scottp55 »

Met "Bobtail Farm" at Leo's Meet and Greet last year, and Brian has visited the house a couple times since and each time gifted me with some Maine Burls :D
A lot more info on the Shopbot Forum
http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/showth ... post201340
but was to lazy to post everything here also:)
Can't raise dust in the shop, as both pieces are drying.....SO
This big Maple burl barely fir on the machine, and needed some bark chiselled off because of my 5.5"Z
Z1 and Z2 and Home had to be set at .02" for this to work with my bits :D
Pretty straight forward, but mainly to have people aware of what may be in the woodpile or being carted away by your tree company:)
scott
Attachments
5.7.18 BRIANS BURL TOO TALL - Copy.jpg
5.7.18 BRIANS BURL PEAKS CHISELLED OFF.jpg
5.7.18 BRIANS BURL  BARK SIDE NOT FINAL DEPTH.jpg
5.1.18 BB TREE SIDE BRACED.jpg
5.9.18 BB TREE SIDE 1 HOUR CLEANED.jpg
I've learned my lesson well. You can't please everyone,so you have to please yourself
R.N.

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scottp55
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Re: Playing with Burl:)

Post by scottp55 »

And here was the first burl....Yellow Birch sapwood burl with BRILLIANT "Flame" figure!
Interesting insect patterns just under the bark on 80% of it.
Organic shape so I went with with a line segment, then copied and rotated .5 degrees, alternated the Start Points, and circular arrayed it 360 times,and trimmed vectors to my boundary vector.
Used the Fluting toolpath LOTS of times, but only on geometric shapes...cutter makes a BIG difference on this 2.5D toolpath.
Finally went only .5" deep as it's for displaying minerals/Opal probably, and went with my .5"Ballnose rather than my .5"Centurion FEM Downcut, mainly because I like the shape better rather than any cut quality issues.
The grain followed the shape of the burl, so virtually an end grain cut...oiling the surface an hour before cutting produced a cut that was like shaving with lather vs a dry shave with a dull razor :D
Pics don't do the figure justice, as it's chatoyant like "Cats Eye", and the light moves as you and the light do:)
scott
Attachments
5.8.18 BB1 1 BARE.jpg
5.8.18 BB1 1 BARE TREE SIDE.jpg
5.20.18 BB BARKSIDE SKIMMING.jpg
5.18.18 BB BALLNOSE .25 GOING TO .33 DEPTH.jpg
5.18.18 BB FINAL DEPTH UNSANDED 4.jpg
5.9.18 BB1 1 SMALL BURL.jpg
I've learned my lesson well. You can't please everyone,so you have to please yourself
R.N.

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scottp55
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Re: Playing with Burl:)

Post by scottp55 »

And here's how the small burl shaped up....still 3 more coats to go on the top and bottom.
Still have to burnish/sand the sides before finishing them.
Attachments
5.22.18 BB BARK SIDE DONE.jpg
5.22.18 BB TREE SIDE DONE 1.jpg
5.22.18 BB TREE SIDE DONE 2.jpg
I've learned my lesson well. You can't please everyone,so you have to please yourself
R.N.

Savannahdan
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Re: Playing with Burl:)

Post by Savannahdan »

Chatoyance is a great word and your burls are outstanding. I have a router planning sled that I use to flatten pieces like that if I want to use them as boards. My cnc would do it just fine but it's fun to install the large router on the sled and manually work it back and forth. Regardless, the wood is outstanding and thank you for sharing.

armbrusterco
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Re: Playing with Burl:)

Post by armbrusterco »

They are beautiful! Will be fabulous as a display setting.
Bob Armbruster
www.ArmbrusterCo.com

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scottp55
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Re: Playing with Burl:)

Post by scottp55 »

Thanks guys!
Yep a sled would do it, but with me at wheelchair height, it usually means mask/goggles/ bandana in the driveway while swatting bugs:)
Besides, I enjoy seeing the different patterns emerging and I can be hand sanding at the same time.
On that big one, there's a hole that if I had gone down another .2" The hole would have gone all the way through.
And on the small one, I was really afraid of loosing the brightness of the figure.
My initial thought was to make it 2.5" deep and follow the growth ring pattern, but got some really funky ridges in preview, and didn't want to sand endgrain in tight spots by hand very much:)
I looked at some of the other impromptu displays in the house, and all are shallow(like a Red Abalone shell, and a scallop shaped opal glass piece) and it hit me that my wheelchair height would keep me from seeing what was in the bowl on most of my counter heights.
Getting fond of the small one, even though it's not as I first imagined.
I wound up skimming the bottom TRYING to get to the figure, and ALMOST gave up when the last .02" cut showed a little "Flame", and another .02" skim cut and the bottom was as shown:) Also MUCH more stable now that the bottom has more surface area and isn't top heavy....ALMOST would trust it on my windowsills where the cat manages to tip stuff on the concrete floor on a regular basis.
Small pockets on bottom to glue in the leather circle feet, and put info on back and sign it, and then 2-4 more coats and I'll be done:)
My Dad hinted Father's Day was coming....I said "Dream on...It's MINE!" :D
I like both sides of the large Maple one, so making a slab side/mobile base/ side table with all wedge joinery so it will sit on top and I can flip sides depending on my mood. Room for camera/binocs/ and reference books underneath located at my back atrium doors that look over the beaver pond 30' away...
I spend at least an hour a day drinking coffee and critter watching...so going with my Big Leaf Quilted Maple for the side most likely:)
Be my first small furniture CNC joinery:)
scott
I've learned my lesson well. You can't please everyone,so you have to please yourself
R.N.

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Leo
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Re: Playing with Burl:)

Post by Leo »

Scott - you are an amazing guy.

I am soooo glad I put that meet and greet together. I got sooo much out of it and I guess others did as well.

I wish I could do it again, but I just have so much on my plate there is no time to assemble another one. Maybe in the future, but not this year.

The burls are beautiful and I just KNOW that you know what to do with them and that they will be beautiful in the end.
Imagine the Possibilities of a Creative mind, combined with the functionality of CNC

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scottp55
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Re: Playing with Burl:)

Post by scottp55 »

Thanks Leo.
Too bad about your busy season...it would be nice to do again!
That was REALLY a nice day for Ron and I!
Vectric people are GREAT! :)
First thought of course was to offer my place this year....BUT methinks I better ponder on that a bit considering my housekeeping!!! :)

Yep...no problem finding a place in the house for these:)
scott
I've learned my lesson well. You can't please everyone,so you have to please yourself
R.N.

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scottp55
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Re: Playing with Burl:)

Post by scottp55 »

9.30.18 YELLOW BIRCH BURL 1.jpg
9.30.18 YELLOW BIRCH BURL 2.jpg
9.30.18 YELLOW BIRCH BURL CLOSE.jpg
Yellow Birch "bowl" now has umpteen coats on top and bottom. Wormhole sides still need to be burnished and finished.
Sitting on end of black granite kitchen peninsula so I pass it numerous times a day...hard to describe how the light changes:)
This sucker was so porous it has about 9 coats so far, and just sanded AGAIN at 600G, and final coat to go.
Fantasy cut Maine Aqua looks good, but still playing with other gems:)
I've learned my lesson well. You can't please everyone,so you have to please yourself
R.N.

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scottp55
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Re: Playing with Burl:)

Post by scottp55 »

8.25.18 Brian pin cherry burl harvested.jpg
9.29.18 BRIAN PIN CHERRY BURL 1.jpg
9.29.18 BRIAN PIN CHERRY BURL 2.jpg
9.29.18 BRIAN PIN CHERRY BURL B SIDE 1.jpg
Friday had another visit from Bobtail Farm:)
And one again he brought a burl from his Maine land:)
He had a friend with a Woodmizer saw a 5/4 chunk off the tree side, and we jigged it up so quick and started surfacing/sanding I didn't even take pics.
Harvested about a month ago(see first pic), so still wet, and had to clean the 1.25" Whiteside Mortising bit a few times.
It wound up at 1.01" thickness, and has 2 cracks on the B side I'm trying to figure the shapes of butterfly wedges today(thinking a bare TREE, and then 3 birds?).
We'll see what the Inlay function does to some graphics I picked...Trying to size so they don't enter the Burl figure.
Then let it dry for a Winter.
Sanded to 600G so the bark edge can be finished(it shrinks and a BEAR to sand afterwards). And my mix of Earthpaint's Pine rosin 3DIlluminator/Linseed/and citrus thinner( roughly 33/33/33%) seems to be working well, so we babysat finish for 20 minutes so first coat would have max penetration.
I've learned my lesson well. You can't please everyone,so you have to please yourself
R.N.

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scottp55
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Re: Playing with Burl:)

Post by scottp55 »

9.29.18 BRIAN PIN CHERRY BURL 1 INCH A SIDE.jpg
9.29.18 BRIAN PIN CHERRY BURL 1 INCH B SIDE.jpg
9.29.18 BRIAN PIN CHERRY BURL 1 INCH A SIDE CLOSE.jpg
The 5/4 (now 1.01") board.
I've learned my lesson well. You can't please everyone,so you have to please yourself
R.N.

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scottp55
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Re: Playing with Burl:)

Post by scottp55 »

9.30.18 PIN CHERRY BURL JIGGED1.jpg
9.30.18 PIN CHERRY BURL BARK SIDE STOP.jpg
9.30.18 PIN CHERRY BURL TREE SIDE JIGGED.jpg
9.30.18 PIN CHERRY BURL TREE SIDE STOP.jpg
9.30.18 PIN CHERRY BURL GUM.jpg
And the now 1.95" burl. I left it at max thickness until it's dry.
Took a bit of playing to jig so I couldn't budge it with both hands.
Pin Cherry has an edible red Gum, and I picked off the larger chunks and may play with it after cleaning...reminds me of Mexican Cherry Opal I have.
MAY try to incorporate the Opal and the gum in some place:)

Let me know if you're getting bored :)
Rainy day here so pics are better than housekeeping chores:)
scott
I've learned my lesson well. You can't please everyone,so you have to please yourself
R.N.

Bobtail Farm
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Playing with Burl:)

Post by Bobtail Farm »

my role is simple and easy, after all the burls just grow on trees. Yours is the hard part, seeing in your creative mind what it can become.

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Xxray
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Re: Playing with Burl:)

Post by Xxray »

That is a complex chunk of wood, looking at the smaller pics I thought you were making a 3D roasted chicken !
Doug

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scottp55
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Re: Playing with Burl:)

Post by scottp55 »

I gotta thank you for the comment Doug :)
My Dad's in rehab now after his kidneys failed weeks ago, and he called back after "Dinner" while reading your comment. I read it to him and explained AND got the first real belly laugh in weeks! :)
He said Send me a slice..It's GOT to be better than what they called Chicken Tenders that they just served me!!!" :D

Yep, thumbnail of the burl does look like a Turkey that's been left in a hot smoker for a week or so. :)

Brian, YOU'RE the guy lugging a chainsaw and a heavy chunk of wood and traipsing through the woods!
I got the easy and fun part.
Hmmm...Creative?
I guess I am...you were standing beside me when I started the file and forgetting to put the key in the spindle interlock.
Carving with an inch and a quarter mortising bit that's not spinning would have made a REAL creative cut! :D

NOT rocket science, but it really is fun.
On the bark side of the burl, when it got into the wood, I kept watching the exposed wood shapes. Kept hoping for a continent's shape, or a recognizable geographic shape:) I'm POSITIVE I got an exact replica of at least a couple obscure Pacific Island groups. ALMOST got James Bay :D

In Opals, if the shape of the fire resembles something it's called a Picture Stone and goes for BIG bucks! I carved one that looked like a space dragon enfolding the Earth, and traded it for $800 off my cabbing diamond machine:) It would have been worth about $100.
Going to be fun to carve that side next year:)
scott
I've learned my lesson well. You can't please everyone,so you have to please yourself
R.N.

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