Eucalyptus burl HF

[Eric Gourieux]

This is another eucalyptus burl HF and the last of my current supply of eucalyptus burl.

Measurements are 6.5" wide x 13" tall with the finial. Woods are eucalyptus burl and African blackwood. This burl is one of my favorites to turn, as it develops a lot of open defects as the piece gets thinner.

Comments and suggestions are welcome.

 

[Odie]

Eric......beautiful piece of work!

Is your Eucalyptus burl from Australia? I bought some that looks similar to yours......can't wait to try it out, but never have turned any yet. Any pointers on how to turn this burl?

ooc

 

[Eric Gourieux]

Odie,

I think the burl is from Australia, but I'm not sure about that. The euc. burls that I have turned have been very dry and produce a lot of dust. It is fairly soft and turns well with sharp tools. As you can see in this piece (and even more so in person), as you turn it thinner, it is sort of a lattice and a lot of the veining falls out. Have a good vac set up and/or a good respirator, due to all of the dust produced.

 

[Odie]

Eric.....I metered mine, but don't remember what the MC was offhand. Pretty sure it was very dry. Bought it from another turner who had it on his shelf for ten years, before he quit turning. Don't have powered air filtration in the shop, but am used to dealing with dust.....Airstream helmet, respirator, and Resp-O-Rator all used regularly.......

Have a good day!

ooc

 

[Harry Robinette]

Very nice piece,love the shape. The finial is very nice also ,I would have made the top just above the onion a little thiner but still very nice piece.

 

[hughie]

Odie,

I think the burl is from Australia, but I'm not sure about that. The euc. burls that I have turned have been very dry and produce a lot of dust. It is fairly soft and turns well with sharp tools. As you can see in this piece (and even more so in person), as you turn it thinner, it is sort of a lattice and a lot of the veining falls out. Have a good vac set up and/or a good respirator, due to all of the dust produced.

Eric it looks a fine piece with great proportions. I especially like the foot with the euc burl base.


It looks like a typical resinous eucalyptus burl, soft and easy to turn but can be very unstable due to the resin veins running through it.
I have had to stop on some and glue them up mid stream, can be very pretty with colours ranging the brown here to rustic red almost. BlO will bring out the colour especially on the reddish ones.

 

[Eric Gourieux]

Thanks, Hughie. It is soft wood. The foot addition was an afterthought, since the blackwood foot was too small to fit the proper proportions. It would help if I DREW the form first, but I'm not good at it.

 

[hughie]

Eric......beautiful piece of work!

Is your Eucalyptus burl from Australia? I bought some that looks similar to yours......can't wait to try it out, but never have turned any yet. Any pointers on how to turn this burl?

ooc

Odie if its the same type as Eric's it wont be to hard to turn. But its good to pay attention to the resin vein before you start.
What I do is fill some of the bad ones with CA and if needed fill some of the bad cracks ... canyons 🙂 with coffee grinds just to hold it together. A lot the gluing will be turned away and you may have to do some gluing as you go along. I run mine slow around 500 rpm as the bad ones will burst sending wooden flak everywhere. Had one years ago, go at 2000, all I could do was drop to the floor and cover the vitals 🙂
if its too light try some BLO and leave a couple of days to go off. I tend to do this at the finish and hand rub some good quality wax to bring up a soft shine.
Heres one I did earlier this year BLO and wax hand buffed

 

[Eric Gourieux]

That's a beautiful piece, Hughie!