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Crotch figure- How deep does it go?

mrGeeze

mrGeeze

Joined
Feb 27, 2006
Messages
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Location
Hatteras Island NC
Found a nice walnut tree that had fallen down. The owner wanted firewood. I wanted turning blanks.
Gave him some oak - Now I have some nice blanks.
Cut a few nice crotches- but I'm not sure about how far I can cut with a gouge into the figure before it will just disappear
I know If I rough out a bowl most of it will disappear in shavings on the floor.

So, I'm thinking of a shallower bowl or plate

About how far away from the centerline can I cut before it goes bye bye?
Other than experimenting, I just dont know.

Thanks
 
These are my recommendations for keeping the figure prominent:
If you are going to make an open form (bowl), put the figure at the bottom and turn into it...
If you are going to makje a hollow (closed) form, put the figure at the top.
Hope this helps.
 
The Crotch Figure lies between the two piths. It begins where the two piths separate, and is caused by the intersection of the growth rings. The slower the tree grew generally the prettier the figure and the lee likelihood of bark inclusions.

hope that it is helpful.

Aaron
 
The crotch figure is relatively thin often an inch or less either side of center.
and its diameter decreases as you move away from center.

I have seen a large box elder crotch that showed flame at least 5 inches either side of center.

I don't know of a method to predict its thickness.
A stitched looking line of bark usually indicates a bark inclusion as opposed to figure.

happy turning,
Al
 
Wood is like individuals......there are some similarities, but no two are alike!

Funny you should ask! I just finished a nice Ash crotch bowl. That beautiful crotch figure was pretty shallow, but fortunately it ran straight through the bottom of the bowl.

I'd say, in total, this particular piece couldn't have had more than a couple or three inches of thickness worth of that wonderful crotch figure.

Like I say......you just can't make hard fast rules about wood......once you do, along comes a piece that breaks the rules!

Take a look at the end grain......that ought to give you some indication for your particular piece of wood.

otis of cologne
 
For a bowl, you might try hollowing first, keeping track of the figure.

When you sense it's being turned out, leave a tenon, then do the outside etc.
 
Last edited:
When in doubt, turn a platter. I just completed a 12" x 1.25" walnut platter from crotch walnut. It's outstanding!!
 
drh said:
When in doubt, turn a platter. I just completed a 12" x 1.25" walnut platter from crotch walnut. It's outstanding!!
Click to expand...

I agree, and turning relatively shallow forms will give you the greatest yield of figured wood; either side of the true crotch figure the wood is still very interesting.
 
And the results are in.

The piece in question was a walnut crotch (2 branch) about 25 inches high. I sawed through the 2 piths in the field with a chain saw. I also ripped down the outside to get a flat face & remove as much bark as i could.

I now had 2 - 8" thick walnut slabs with a lot of crotch showing on the inside. Back at the shop I cut it down to 20 inches high so it would fit on my bandsaw. Didn't lose any of the figure cutting it down. Then I resawed the first one approximately 3" away from the center. The crotch figure ran all the way through the inside piece and still could be seen on the outside piece. I ended up with 2 nice 15" roughouts from that side. Ditto the other. One made about 4.5" deep and should make a striking shallow bowl.

All in all I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out. Reckon I'll do more in the future. Thanks to all for the advice.
 
mrGeeze said:
And the results are in.

I ended up with 2 nice 15" roughouts from that side. Ditto the other. One made about 4.5" deep and should make a striking shallow bowl.

All in all I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out. Reckon I'll do more in the future. Thanks to all for the advice.
Click to expand...
Gotta see some pictures!
 
Sorry lads.
The roughouts are cut, wrapped in newspaper and now stacked under a pile of other roughouts.

We'll just have to see what 6 months of drying and the "re-turning" bring.
I'll post some photos in the springtime.
 
Preserving the flame

I have just finished turning cherry crotch and walnut crotch. I agree that a platter or large dish poses the least risk of turning away and losing the flame pattern--which I did with one of the cherries. I misjudged how shallow the figure was. The second time I mounted the platter initially with a spur center instead of screws to save wood and carefully turned on both sides to reveal the crotch. Since even the face of the dish/platter has some wood removed, I set it up with a thin tenon on the bottom to be set in the Stronghold jaws and the flame pattern showing well on the bottom and less prominently on the top and then after drying, I turned the face of the shallow dish down to the flame.

There was less deformation in the crotch platter and the dish than I thought there would be with the cherry.

Brad
 
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