Please help me decide what to do with this chunk of wood

[Cary Falk]

I don't think I ever posted down here before. I am a flat/ square type of guy. I have done some pens and a few other things that were required for some of my other projects,so I do have a lathe and know how it works The problem I have is I can't look at a chunk of wood and a bowl/vase/plate out of it. I am always amazed at all of the pictures I see posted down here. I never see the before chunk of wood and sometimes the dimensions are not mentioned.

So her is my delima. I have a work friend that bought a plot of land that we are clearing and I will eventually help him build a shop and house on. I think he is on the 3-5 year plan since we have day jobs. We were clearing brush today and I see this freshly cut stump with this hemorrhoid hanging off the side. I was thinking that this might be interesting so I asked if he would cut it off for me.

He cut it extra big at my request so I don't really know what the inside of it will look like. I was thinking of turning something as a house warming gift for them when we finish it. If I start planning now I just might get it done on time. This is Oregon so it is some kind of fir I think. I am going to paint all of the exposed edges tomorrow. It is huge so I know it will take a long time to dry. There is a guy on CL that sells wood and kas a kiln. I was thinking maybe I could e-mail him and ask how much to have him dry it.

Now for the real question. Can all you great turners post some pictures of suggestions that will fit into this shape and I can attempt to turn? I also have seen some posts about turning the blank green and oversized and then putting it in a bag with something to force it to dry faster. Is this the way to go? What is the process again?

Maybe I should just stick with my roots and make something flat. Thanks for all of your help and here are all of the pictures.

[David E Keller]

Alright, I'll give it a go. Firstly, I'm not sure that 'hemorrhoid' is a burl as it may just be a scar from a limb being removed... Let's hope it's burl.

Secondly, I'm not sure what your lathe will handle, but the simplest thing would be to trim the burl off and turn a natural edged bowl from it. This allows you to get the maximum dimensions from an irregular shape.

Mount a faceplate to the outer(bark) surface and turn the bottom of the form with a tenon for grasping in a chuck. Then mount the tenon in a chuck and hollow out the inside leaving the bark on the rim. You can turn it thin in a single session and forgo the need to do any kind of fancy drying. It may warp a little(or a lot), but it doesn't matter as the form is meant to be organic and natural.

You could slice up the remaining trunk and sticker it for drying... Then you can do some fancy flat work thing like a stand for your new natural edge bowl.

No pics, but a search for natural edge bowls would give you some visual references.

[Jeff Nicol]

Cary, I would also do what David said and cut the burl or "BLOB" off and turn it alone. Like David said, we don't know the size of your lathe, so that will determine the size you cut the starting blank to. To get it kiln dried would take a while and that may not work out with a chunk like that. It could become case hardened on the outside and still damp in the middle. The natural edge is a good idea, I just am not sure what the sap does out there at this time of year, if the sap has started to rise in the tree already it may lose the bark if you go that way. But rough turning it to what ever shape you decide is the way to go IMHO. I think a simple bowl shape that would show the grain of the burl would be a good place to start for someone with your limited experience.

Hope it goes well,

Jeff

[Cary Falk]

I have a 12" swing on my lathe. I could swing something a little larger on the outboard side if I needed to but no way do I want to swing this thing in it's current state.

[Thomas Canfield]

Cary,

It looks like you will need to get a blank down to 12" diameter (or less). The blank is likely to be unbalanced and need to be turned at a slow speed to start and that may be another factor. Hopefully you can get your speed down to 300 rpm or so to start with the initial blank. The slab looks large enough to give you a 12" diameter x about 6" thick blank which will make a nice bowl allowing for tenon. Good luck.

[TYLER WOOD]

cut the "hemroid" off and turn a bowl from it. Use the reminder as another bowl of even a platter. U nice shallow platter with little to no curl but same color wood with a burled bowl would be phenomenal!!!