Elm Burl 20 x 9 ½ x 3 ½ inches

[chippypah]

Elm Burl 20 x 9 ½ x 3 ½ inches

Well here is my latest turning project, an Elm Burl. This has taken a lot of thought on the best shape, due to irregular shape.


So this became a challenge not to make firewood, and this is the result.

Whenever doing a winged bowl always make sure.
1 The lathe is set at its lowest speed (oops broke rule one, and the lathe came off the concrete blocks that raise it to my height)

2 When you turn the lathe on, make sure your arm or hand is not in the firing line. (Yep you guessed it, clouted my arm and wow did that hurt)

As always an out of balance bowl needs very special consideration, as even on a slowest speed a major vibration occurs. Also a heavily one sided wing on the bowl also is not only hard on the chisel but also the concentration. The chisel is only in contact with the wood for a very short time, so position of the tool rest is vital, and also constant sharpening of the chisel. As the clouting action takes the edge off the tool very quickly, and it then becomes more of a tearing process than a cutting action. Everyone is different in there approach to this challenge, for me as it is almost impossible to see where you are cutting, I take a mental picture and do this process with my eyes shut. Yes truly I close my eyes and let the sound and feel guide me, this is something that I would not recommend you doing, unless you feel at one with your turning and totally confident.


Cheers

Pete

 

[CHJ]

Great looking piece Pete, You got your image tags correct on original post but failed to put line breaks between the pictures.

You now need to add

to begining and end of each reference line.

 

[Paul.J]

Beautiful piece of Elm there Pete and very nicely turned,and finished
How did you go about sanding it :?:
And thanks for the tips/warnings :shock:

 

[CHJ]

For a piece that far out of balance I would recommend that you develope a method of securing it to a large diameter ply or MDF disc.
Then bolt on scrap metal weights to the disc to get the whole somewhere in balance by hand before you even think of starting the machine.

You really need speed control capable of going down less than 100 RPM if you intend to do this safely.

If balanced then given appropriate lighting you should be able to raise the speed to the point that you can work with the ghost image and reduced tool bounce.

 

[Paul.J]

Think i'll just keep doing the ordinary stuff,with the odd inclusion :shock:

 

[chippypah]

Hi CHJ,
Just tried putting in the at the start and end and still no joy, what am i doing wrong ?.
Cheers
Pete

 

[TEP]

Mornin' Pete. As Chas has said you need

note the backslash to close the code line.

Word of advice for future, if you have coded the line properly, and look at your post in the preview screen, you can't see the opening and closing code. Just the photo address.

 

[chippypah]

Cheers Tam,
Got it at last, hopefully remember for next time. It is easer turning than posting pictures LOL.
Cheers
Pete

 

[chippypah]

Hi Paul J,
Sanding of the bowl was done with the lathe running, but the wing was done by hand sanding.
Cheers
Pete

 

[PowerTool]

Finished piece looks lovely,the curved top adds to the beauty of it.

Andrew

 

[stevebuk]

that looks great, the other piece would make a great pen :wink:

 

[mrs. sliver]

I have yet to try a burr, I will keep your advice in mind. thank you.
super piece!! finish is up your normal high standard! :shock:

 

[pete honeyman]

Lovely - how did you mount it on the lathe?

Pete II

 

[dickm]

Don't usually go for the more "arty" style, but I really like that piece. Gives me some ideas for some odd burrs that have been retrieved from the firewood supply.
As a matter of interest, how often were you needing to sharpen tools while doing this? I've got an elm burr "vase" that I started on years ago, and gave up on because it seemed to blunt HSS in about 10 seconds flat.

 

[duncanh]

Very nice Pete.
I've got to say that you're brave! I've got a couple of odd shaped burrs but have never quite figured out how to turn them as there are so many mounting problems.

Dick - what is it about this turning that makes you refer to it as arty? If anything I'd say it was more crafty as it's taken the wood and made the most from it without any embellishments at all. It's a functional item.
For your question about elm blunting tools - I've never really had a problem with elm even on my most burred pieces. You may want to try a burred scraper or even a tool with a carbide tip such as the Sorby hollower - I was recently turning some rosewood (I think) and it was blunting gouges in under 10 seconds. The scrapers I used were much better and are always faster to sharpen when they go blunt.

Duncan

 

[Blister]

Pete , I must say you are a welcome addition to our forum

Some remarkable work for someone just starting out

I am impressed

:wink:

 

[chippypah]

Thanks for the kind words,
Blister I have been turning for 8 years, sice my hand was amputated in 2000, so not really just started out.
Duncanh it is allways great fun to try and push the limits, and yes sharpening in the whole process about 3 times, as you say it is faily kind on the edge of the tools but do not use scapers.
Pete, here are a couple pictures to how I mounted it.
Cheers
Pete

 

[dickm]

Very nice Pete.

Dick - what is it about this turning that makes you refer to it as arty? If anything I'd say it was more crafty as it's taken the wood and made the most from it without any embellishments at all. It's a functional item.

Not looking to start an argument, because I really like the piece, but not sure I'd say it was particularly <functional>. Two reasons:- first, it takes up a lot of space for the limited capacity of the bowl. Second, SWMBO tells me that the natural undersurface would still collect some dust, and be a pain to clean.

But I still like it, and wasn't using arty as a term of abuse!

 

[chippypah]

Hi Dick,
None taken mate, the underside is not rough in any part and has had approx 30 coats of lacquer, so dust is not a problem. But you are 100 % right arty, as that is exactly what the client wanted.
Cheers
Pete

 

[Anonymous]

Best of both worlds... arty with implied function ... very crafty Pete :lol: