• Beware of Counterfeit Woodturning Tools (click here for details)
  • Johnathan Silwones is starting a new AAW chapter, Southern Alleghenies Woodturners, in Johnstown, PA. (click here for details)
  • Congratulations to Jim Hills for "Journey II" being selected as Turning of the Week for May 6th, 2024 (click here for details)
  • Welcome new registering member. Your username must be your real First and Last name (for example: John Doe). "Screen names" and "handles" are not allowed and your registration will be deleted if you don't use your real name. Also, do not use all caps nor all lower case.
3 Footed Arbutus Burl Bowl
Dave Roberts

3 Footed Arbutus Burl Bowl

This bowl was rough turned to about 1” or slightly thicker and after rough turning it was boiled in a 60-gallon kettle for 6 hours along with a bunch of trimmings. After boiling it air dried for a few days and were then moved into the drying room with the dehumidifier. I noticed after a week that these blanks were starting to check and I was worried the cracks would worsen so I 2nd turned the bowl and carved 3 feet as a base to allow for movement as it dried. Finished with 6 coats of tung oil and buffed.
Dave, I boil my large hollow forms but not nearly that long. Curious why 6 hours of boiling? I have a 35 gallon boiling pot but wow, a 60 gallon one must be a monster.
 
Dave, I boil my large hollow forms but not nearly that long. Curious why 6 hours of boiling? I have a 35 gallon boiling pot but wow, a 60 gallon one must be a monster.
Thank you Randy, when I boil Arbutus I have a full load in the kettle. As a rule of thumb I boil 1 hr per inch of thickness. My pot takes 3 to 3.5 hrs to start boiling and I have rough turned pieces, cut offs and usually pepper mills blanks that are 3.5 to 4” it just depends on what I’m cutting up. I don’t turn the burner up too high as a 20 lb tank will frost up quickly and I burn more fuel so lower heat and it takes a bit longer.
 
OK, makes sense now. I recently moved to a natural gas burner and my time to boiling temp went way down. I got one of those big cast iron wok burners online, not expensive, and a quick connect to my natural gas line at home. It would take my 35 gallon tank about 2 hours to start boiling on propane and one of those tall turkey fryer burner stands. Got expensive to burn up almost 20lbs of propane for each boil and like you I kept the throttle down on the bottle.
 
Thank you Randy, when I boil Arbutus I have a full load in the kettle. As a rule of thumb I boil 1 hr per inch of thickness. My pot takes 3 to 3.5 hrs to start boiling and I have rough turned pieces, cut offs and usually pepper mills blanks that are 3.5 to 4” it just depends on what I’m cutting up. I don’t turn the burner up too high as a 20 lb tank will frost up quickly and I burn more fuel so lower heat and it takes a bit longer.
I wish we hat nat gas here in the island, my burner is mounted under my tank, it was a double boiler like they use for jam but I got it from a brewery, if you want to see it go to our website and go to the blog, Darawoodworks.com. Cheers
 

Media information

Category
Member Galleries
Added by
Dave Roberts
Date added
View count
435
Comment count
4
Rating
0.00 star(s) 0 ratings

Image metadata

Device
Apple iPhone 12 Pro
Aperture
ƒ/1.6
Focal length
4.2 mm
Exposure time
1/188 second(s)
ISO
32
Flash
Off, did not fire
Filename
2.JPG
File size
767 KB
Date taken
Mon, 25 December 2023 2:31 PM
Dimensions
2869px x 2033px

Share this media

Back
Top