From Burl to Bowl
This project started in Medocino California. I was vacationing there with my family for the holidays. Surrounded by the cool blue and white waters of the coast line. Redwoods standing tall all around as if they are reaching for the sky itself. As we drove through the quaint little town of Fort Brag I was taken aback by one particular little shop. It was more of a house than a store really. The old creaky doors and windows, grey paint pealing off the side of the building, and a rusty sign that said wood for sale. The front yard was adorn with big piles of drift wood. Most of which was grey and oxidized from the years of sitting out in the elements. The van lurched to a stop and we got out to investigate. No one seamed to be home but sure enough after a couple of taps on the old door a woman appeared. She was probably in her late 60’s early 70’s, thin, and a bit worn, just like the wood that sat in her yard. She said that she acquired it all from a man that used to collect drift wood on the beach. Pieces large and small, knobby and smooth. For a woodworker such as myself this was paradise. Like a kid in a candy store. My mind racing with all sorts of ideas. I picked up a few smaller pieces, most of which were gnarly and twisted but big enough to carve out into bowls. The surface was so grey and cracked that I couldn’t tell what kind of wood it was. Being that we were in Medocino I figured it was probably redwood, maybe old growth if I was lucky, but I really wasn’t sure what I had. It was clear to me that the woman who owned it wasn’t sure either. After carefully deliberating I purchased four select pieces for a very fair price. We loaded them up into the back of my Dad’s van and off we went. I often day dream about going back there with my truck to get some of the big pieces that I oogled over. She had these burly root structure like pieces that I would love to make into table bases or chairs. A dream that I one day hope to fulfill but in the mean time I have some very unique mystery burls to work with.
The one in the picture above was particularly odd. It was a good size, round ish but lumpy, and it had these crazy branches sticking out all over. The process starts fairly simple. I flipped the burl upside down and screwed it to a crappy piece of plywood. Then clamped that plywood to a folding table I had set up behind the shop. For my birthday that year my parents (very reluctantly) bought me a Sthl 12” bar electric chain saw. After doing an abundance of research I found that this was a very nice chain saw for someone looking to get more into carving work. Wielding my tiny little bar I lobbed off what would ultimately be the bottom of the bowl. As I finished the cut I set the saw down and looked at the grain I had just exposed. It was not what I expected, thinking that this was a redwood burl, I thought it would be very soft with a neutral grain pattern. But what I saw instead was dark grain with speckled spots of birds eye burl. Could it be? Could this be a walnut burl? For those that don’t know, walnut burl is some of the most coveted wood in the wood world because of its dark grain and beautiful figure. It’s also worth considerably more than redwood. It was like opening a treasure chest and finding a bar of gold when you were expecting a silver coin. I was pleasantly surprised to say the least. After grinding the bottom flat and sanding it smooth I flipped it over and screw the bottom to the plywood then clamped it down. I dove into the top of the burl with my chain saw. Creating a grid of deep cut lines that I would later scoop out with my angle grinder. (I will make a separate post about what angle grinder discs I use / have used for those of you that are interested in giving this process a try.) As the saw dust flew the form gradually evolved, beginning to take shape. The reason I do my carving this way is so that I can match the shape of the bowl to the outer contour of the burl. Constantly checking the thickness of the walls by pinching the piece with my fingers I can tell if I need to take off more material or if I have taken off too much (hopefully not, its a friken nightmare when that happens). I like the walls of my bowls to tapper to a thin leaf like edge. Folding and twisting as if it were a piece of cloth. I left the bottom of this piece fairly thick. This gives it some weight, conveying the feel of stability and strength. While still being balanced by the elegance of the walls. Once I was happy with the overall form I began the sanding process. This typically takes just as long as the carving. I usually like to split it up and do carving one day and sanding the next. If the piece is big enough I will go right in with a 5” orbital sander. I’ll even use my 6” Bosch material remover (my big boy orbital) if it’ll fit in the bowl. I get as far as I can with the orbitals but there comes a point when the nooks and crannies of the piece need a finer level of detail sanding. There is no easy answer for this kind of sanding. The first thing I tried that works reasonably well is the Guinevere inflatable sanding ball. It’s a little inflatable black ball with a shank. It chucks up into a drill and there are these special (and expensive) papers that wrap around the ball. Problem is the papers wear out quickly, often fall off the ball, and sometimes it’ll just pop and needs to be re-inflated entirely. But when it works it works great. I’ve also tried using the little 1-2” sanding pads that also chuck into a drill. They work okay but it’s hard to find one that actually has good hook and loop. The papers that come with it fall off so easily, it can be annoying. The alternative to either of these options is hand sanding. Which to be frank, is a bitch. It takes a ton of elbow grease and time and rarely turns out that nice. I’m all for power tools, what can I say? Everyone has their preferences. After the initial rough sand I taped off and filled any major cracks with west systems epoxy died black to match the dark tones in the wood. Sanding out the excess epoxy after it dries is a challenge in itself that I don’t have too many tips for. I believe I used a die grinder with a ball bur to hog some of it off but it realistically comes down to a bunch more rough sanding. Then finish sanding, working my way up in grits, stopping around 220. Once you hit 220 the scratches become pretty much invisible to the human eye. Anything beyond that is basically just polishing. Which can be fun sometimes if I have super high grit papers on me but its largely unnecessary. I finish all of my bowls out with a kind of butter that I make at home. It’s a 4 to 1 blend of mineral oil to melted bees wax. It’s super food safe (you can literally eat it) and it really brings out the grain while still filling the pours of the wood. This piece in particular was such a joy to finish. The grain absolutely came alive. All of the shimmery secondary grain pops out after putting the butter on. This is my favorite part of the process. It’s just so rewarding to see how pretty it is after its done. Then like any good productive millennial I took a million pictures of it to post on the internet and blog about. I hope you enjoyed my long winded explanation of how this beautiful bowl came to be. Mind you this is only one of the pieces I got while I was in Mendocino. I still have two more beauties that I haven’t touched yet. So stay tuned for more grinding and sculptural madness.
It all began in Mendocino California while vacationing with my family for the holidays. Surrounded by the cool blue and white waters of the west coast. Redwoods standing tall all around as if they’re reaching for the sky itself.
As we drove through the quaint little town of Fort Brag I was taken aback by one particular little shop. It was more of a house than a shop really. The old creaky doors and windows, grey paint pealing off the side of the building, and a rusty sign that said wood for sale. The front yard was adorn with big piles of drift wood. Most of which was grey and oxidized from years of sitting out in the elements.
My father’s van lurched to a stop and we got out to investigate. No one seamed to be home but sure enough after a couple of taps on the old door a woman appeared. She was probably in her late 60’s early 70’s, thin, and a bit worn. Just like the wood that sat in her yard. She said that she acquired all of it from a man that used to collect drift wood on the beach. Pieces large and small, knobby and smooth. For a woodworker such as myself this was paradise. Like a kid in a candy store. My mind was racing with all sorts of new ideas. I picked up a few smaller pieces, most of which were gnarly and twisted but big enough to carve into a bowl. The surface of the wood was so grey and cracked that I couldn’t tell what species it was. Being that we were in Medocino I figured it was probably redwood, maybe old growth if I was lucky. But I really wasn’t sure what I had. It was clear to me that the woman who owned it wasn’t sure either. After careful deliberation I purchased four select pieces for a very fair price. We loaded them up into the back of the van and drove off.
I often day dream about going back there with my truck to get some of those big pieces that I had oogled over. She had these beautiful, burly, root structures that would make for some excellent table bases or chairs. A dream that I one day hope to fulfill but in the mean time I had some very unique mystery burls to work with.
The one in the picture above started out particularly odd. It was a good size, round ish but lumpy, and it had these wild branches sticking out all over.
My process starts fairly simple. I flipped the burl upside down and screwed it to a crappy piece of plywood. Then clamped that plywood to a folding table I had set up behind the shop. For my birthday that year my parents (very reluctantly) bought me a Sthl 12” bar electric chain saw. After doing an abundance of research I found that this was a very nice chain saw for someone looking to get more into carving work.
Wielding my tiny little saw I lobbed off what would ultimately be the bottom of the bowl. As I finished the cut I set the saw down and looked at the grain I had just exposed. It was not what I expected. Thinking that it was a redwood burl, I thought it would be very soft with neutral grain. But what I saw instead was dark grain with speckled spots of birds eye burl. Could it be? Could this be a walnut burl? For those that don’t know, walnut burl is some of the most coveted wood in the wood world because of its dark grain and beautiful figure. It’s also worth considerably more than redwood. It was like opening a treasure chest and finding a bar of gold when you were expecting a silver coin. I was pleasantly surprised to say the least.
After grinding the bottom flat and sanding it smooth I flipped it over and screwed the bottom to the plywood then clamped it down. I dove into the top of the burl with my chain saw. Creating a grid of deep cut lines that I would later scoop out with my angle grinder. (I will make a separate post about what angle grinder discs I use / have used for those of you that are interested in giving this process a try.)
As the saw dust flew gradually the form evolved, slowly taking shape. The reason I do my carving this way is so that I can match the shape of the bowl to the outer contour of the burl. Constantly checking the thickness of the walls. By pinching the piece with my fingers I can tell if I need to take off more material or if I have taken off too much (hopefully not, it’s a friken nightmare when that happens). I like to tapper the walls to a thin leaf like edge. Folding and twisting as if it were a piece of cloth. I left the bottom of this piece fairly thick. This gives it some weight, conveying the feel of stability and strength. While still being balanced by the elegance of the walls.
Once I was happy with the overall form I began the sanding process. This typically takes just as long as the carving. I usually like to split it up and do carving one day and sanding the next. If the piece is big enough I will go right in with a 5” orbital sander. I’ll even use my 6” Bosch material remover (my big boy orbital) if it’ll fit in the bowl.
I get as far as I can with the orbitals but there comes a point when the nooks and crannies of the piece need a finer level of detail sanding. There is no easy answer for this kind of sanding. The first thing I tried that works reasonably well is the Guinevere inflatable sanding ball. It’s a little inflatable black ball with a shank. It chucks up into a drill and there are these special (and expensive) sand papers that wrap around the ball. Problem is the sand paper wear out quickly, often falls off the ball, and sometimes it’ll just pop and needs to be re-inflated entirely. But when it works it works great. I’ve also tried using little 1-2” sanding pads that can also be chucked up into a drill. They work okay but it’s hard to find one that actually has good hook and loop. The sand paper discs that come with it fall off so easily, it can be annoying. The alternative to either of these options is hand sanding. Which to be frank, is a bitch. It takes a ton of elbow grease and time and rarely turns out that nice. I’m all for power tools, what can I say? Everyone has their preferences.
After the initial rough sand I taped off and filled any major cracks with west systems epoxy died black to match the dark tones in the wood. Sanding out the excess epoxy after it dries is a challenge in itself that I don’t have many tips for. I believe I used a die grinder with a ball bur to hog some of it off but it realistically comes down to a bunch more rough sanding. Then finish sanding, working my way up in grits, stopping around 220. Once you hit 220 the scratches become pretty much invisible to the human eye. Anything beyond that is basically just polishing. Which can be fun sometimes if I have super high grit papers on me, but its largely unnecessary. I finish all of my bowls out with a butter that I make at home. It’s a 4 to 1 blend of mineral oil to melted bees wax. It’s super food safe (you can literally eat it) and it really brings out the grain while still filling the pours of the wood. This piece in particular was such a joy to finish. The grain absolutely came alive. All of the shimmery secondary grain pops out after putting the butter on. This is my favorite part of the process. It’s just so rewarding to see how pretty it is after its done.
Then like any good productive millennial I took a million pictures of it to post on the internet and blog about. I hope you enjoyed my long winded explanation of how this beautiful bowl came to be. Mind you this is only one of the pieces I got while I was in Mendocino. I still have two more beauties that I haven’t touched yet. So stay tuned for more grinding and sculptural madness.