My first bowl

Tiger maple bowl

I have been a wood shop teacher for years now and I turned many a project out on the lathes in the shop, but I never completed a bowl before last year.  Since then I have been honing my skills and improving my techniques but no matter what i create I still love the first one I made and think its worth posting a little something about it.  Anyway here it is, just a simple footed tiger maple bowl about 8 inches across finished with a food safe poly.

Burl Hunting

Maple burl and my dad

Black birch burl

Birch burl cut open, once its cleaner you will see it pop!

Today me and my old man went out to the land he owns in search of burls.  What are burls you ask, well they are large irregular growths on the sides of trees as a result of some sort of disease or abnormality in the tree.  These growths do not necessarily kill the tree but they do ruin that area of lumber for normal uses, but for a wood turner they are gold!  The internal structure of a burl is extremely complex and are often used for specialty applications like high-end veneers, fly fishing reel seats, inlay and in this case they will be turned into beautiful bowls.  I took some pictures of the quest and the 2 burls we found and harvested.  The football shaped burl that my dad is holding is from a Maple tree that was just about dead, and the other one is from a black birch.  I will post some more pictures of the burls as they are dissected and turned on the lathe later this week.