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Has anyone ever turned any of these burl-like growths?
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My forestry friends call them "rust galls" and I picked up several, mostly 8-inches diameter, on my visit to Montana. I was skeptical they's be worth the bother, but sampled one and they're quite dense and very figured. They're certainly turnable.
The first two images above are the actual items I picked up; the third one is a sample pic from the internet.
;) Never turned one and wouldn't bother. If you want to get rid of them I'll PM you my address.
In all seriousness, is that the color or did you put water on it to pop the grain? If I were you I'd definitely give it a go. Then again I'll try almost anything on the lathe, so I guess it depends on what you do with your work and how much time you have.
Since it is caused by a fungal disease I would take extra care working it. Looks like some wonderful color.
That's the magic of working with wood, isn't it? You try something new and you discover something no one has experienced before.
This particular tree has several more of these growths, and I'm hoping they'll get larger after time. I'll leave them with hopes for the future.
Cough, cough.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sid Matheny
Seriously, Sid, much of the "figured" and "spalted" wood is technically fungal in nature. Common sense goes far here; if you have a reaction, even a minor one, wear a mask, if it persists, quit. I'm lucky. I rarely have a reaction.
Beautiful wood Russell! Looking forward to seeing what you turn out of it!
What species of tree, and where at in MT?
A pedestrian-looking pine tree just north of Missoula. My brother-in-law is a career forestry department employee and says they're fairly common, although not this large.Quote:
Originally Posted by Chance Raser
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine-pine_gall_rust
Is it full of pitch?
Cool wood. Looking forward to seeing a turning.
Red
Nope. And since it's pine, you'd expect that, right? I'll turn these few and post the results.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave Fritz
Finished this one today with the largest of the rust galls, ending up with a 5x7 inch piece that required lots of filler and glue. The walls are about 3/16th" thick. The pine sap
really filled the sandpaper in seconds.
This only has a sealer coat on it; I'll sand and add several coats of lacquer and post better pictures later.
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Russell, would it be possible for you to repost these pictures with a different background? The way they are posted with that background, makes it hard to get a clear picture of the dish. To me, they look to be shimmering or vibrating because of that background.
Len
This gall is a "fusifornm rust gall" very common on southern pines, especially Slash pine. Responsible for millions of $'s in damage in the south. Usually has bright yellow spores in the spring. Always narly inside and dripping rosin on the outside. Hope someone can find a good use for them.
Wrapped this up yesterday. Only a Beall polish matte finish because I thought anything shinier would look out of place. The walls are surprisingly thin-- about one-eighth of an inch all except at the bottom -- which is thinner than I intended. When I started with this, I really didn't expect it to go very far, but here it is. Just one of those pleasant surprised woodturners stumble into now and then.
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