Beech Burl

I have never had much success with Beech -- it almost always cracks. But when a chap brought me this Beech burl, it was too much of a temptation. I rough turned it over a year ago. It was beautiful. Then I let it dry for a year. It cracked and opened up like an over-the-hill rose! I decided to patch the cracks and see what I could do. first I filled them all with fiberglass resin and sawdust. When I made the first cut, there were still lots of cracks the resin had not gone into. This resulted in a lengthy proces of crack filling with bark, coffee (followed by CA glue) and a lot of turning at 200 rpm to keep it from flying apart. It became a real challenge to make sure it did not beat me. I was not very happy about it at the time, but I could see there was great potential in the wood. Now that it has been done a few months, I am glad I stuck with it.

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BNeddow

Registered: November 2004
Location: Ottawa, Canada
Posts: 10

0

Date: Mon October 31, 2005
Views: 1,344
Keywords: beech burl

Comments

cfuller

That was worth every bit of the effort! That's really a great looking bowl.

#1 Mon October 31, 2005 3:18am

Gil

Yep, it appears to have been well worth the effort. Very well done curve, and the rim treatment is good too.

#2 Mon October 31, 2005 3:42am

Chris Wright

No complaints here Bill, it turned out excellent. The form is dead on and the grain combined with the fills looks pretty cool. Nice work as always.

#3 Mon October 31, 2005 3:58am

Philip Peak

I got a bunch of beech from a friend and I have had the same problem with it. But you managed to make this one work. Good Job Bill. Say we haven't seen or heard from you in a while, welcome back.

#4 Mon October 31, 2005 6:12am