# Commissioned jobs...!



## robutacion (Dec 2, 2013)

Hi peoples,

Has been a very long time since I done any commissioned jobs of this nature however, I have a local (Adelaide) fellow that buys pen blanks from me and some round bowl blanks.

I remember clearly, the first time he come to visit my "lolly-shop" that he said that he only wanted soft woods to work with on the bowl blanks or anything bigger than a pen blank, I also remember him saying that, he hates turning hard stuff that brakes apart easily such as many burls and that he have had some bad experience with it so, no more of that.

He also mention that he had some burl blanks that he wanted to have turned into something nice as they cost him a bunch but, he wasn't going to touch them.  I remember to say for him to bring them in one day, I would have a look...!

This was probably 7 or 8 months ago, when recently (few weeks back), I got a call from this person, asking if I was home as he was coming my way the next day.  I told him that I would be at our wood storage paddock cutting some grass, not far from home, a place he has been before so, he would drop by, sometime middle morning the following day...!

I saw him coming with one of his 2 teenager sons, stop his van near where I was with my ride-on mower and I had a look what he had for me to work with.

Fine burl specimens purchased from some wood shop or wood-show (never asked...!) and he asked me if I could make 3 nice pieces out of them.  The biggest one the Australian Jarrah burl at 16",  
  he wanted it done as a fruit bowl and be done first, as it was going to be a Christmas present for his wife, the other 2, one a Salmon Gum burl (bowl blanks shape)    and the other a full York Gum burl,    I'm not 100% sure if they are going to be presents/gifts or he is going to keep them for himself.

The 2 burls in a normal bowl blank shape, would be some sort of platters while the third burl, he only mentioned to me that, he wanted as much natural outer skin/surface as possible and that, he though that he would put 3 legs into it to stand it up.

This is all I was given as designs and I was fine with it, it gave me the freedom to work them as if they were mine.  The only thing that I did do different was, the one with legs, I had to make 4 legs for it from the chunk of wood I manage to get from the burl centre, without having a proper hollower, sure I broke my made long diamond shape partition tool, just as I was finishing so, that allowed me to get a shallow cone shape from where I made the 4 legs from.

One of the problems was that, the piece is heavy and the wood of these burls is full of crystal veins that can make the wood very weak and fragile, so, after shaping the legs, they had to be fully soaked with thin and medium CA's to make the whole thing as a solid piece of wood.

After I cut a recess for the chuck and trim what was going to be the base of the piece, I realise that, 3 legs weren't an option due to the shape of the burl as the unbalanced mass of the whole thing so, the 4 legs would be a better option, I believe.

As for the final leg shape and positioning, there were too many options possible however, I could only use one so, considering what I was working with and its possible use, this was what I come up with...!

I got them all done, the 4 legs piece was my last one, that I finished Sunday night so, I'm going to let him know that he can come trough and pick them up, being very careful for another week and a half as the varnish takes 14 days to fully cure, but able to be handled within 24 hours.

I will put the final results pics on here very soon, they are all done but I don't want to have them all in this first post so, be patient, you will see them...!

One of the reasons for having them all done by the last weekend, apart from the time that the varnish takes to cure properly, is the fact that, yesterday I had to spend a few hours in hospital for a pre-admission tests for a surgery that I will have tomorrow (Wednesday 4/12) about lunch time and I'm told that I won't be able to walk around and do much for 1 week or so, I don't like to take unnecessary risks so, I felt that giving priority to this commissioned job, was the correct thing to do so, I haven't done much on IAP lately, in fact, the whole month of November so, with this extra computer time (I hope), I should be able go get some more "stuff" going this month...!

Cheers
George


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## robutacion (Dec 3, 2013)

*Finished pieces...!*

Well, as promised, here are the 3 pieces I turned last week...!

I hope you like them...!:wink::biggrin:

Enjoy,
Cheers
George


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## Bob Wemm (Dec 3, 2013)

They look very nice George, like the legged one best.
Thanks for showing,
Bob.


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## glenspens (Dec 3, 2013)

Sweet


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## George Watkins (Dec 3, 2013)

nice work George 

I hope that your surgery goes well for you and you get plenty of R & R afterwards


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## healeydays (Dec 3, 2013)

Those are some beautiful pieces George.  What burl is the one with all the voids?

Ok, a general question for you and the other guys that "soak in CA".  How much CA do you go thru in one sitting on a piece this large and are you really soaking it or just pouring in the gaps?  The reason I don't know what can be done with CA is I get an allergic reaction to it and can't see buying gallons of non odor CA...

Mike B


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## Teeball (Dec 3, 2013)

George great job on all of them, really beautiful. I think the one with legs is my favorite. Again all are fantastic.:good:


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## robutacion (Dec 4, 2013)

healeydays said:


> Those are some beautiful pieces George.  *What burl is the one with all the voids*?
> 
> Ok, a general question for you and the other guys that "soak in CA".  How much CA do you go thru in one sitting on a piece this large and* are you really soaking it or just pouring in the gaps*?  The reason I don't know what can be done with CA is I get an allergic reaction to it and can't see buying gallons of non odor CA...
> 
> Mike B



G'day Mike,

I'm back fellows, one more problem dealt with...!:wink::biggrin:

To answer your first question, the answer is, Salmon Gum burl...!

As for "CA soaking", this is in most cases more an expression than a reality, I would say 50/50.

Soft pen blanks can be easily CA soaked by applying a very generous coat with very thin CA (5 cup) on its 4 faces.  Bowl blanks or similar, can have soft patches soaked with thin CA, by pouring the super thin CA, until it reaches saturation point, that can be achieve also by applying wood hardener solution, found in most hardware stores...!

No one "soaks" wood with CA by using the same methods as you would use with Juice, meth spirits, sealer or wood preservatives there is, pouring an amount of solution into a containers and submerse or covering the wood into/with it, that wouldn't be either a good idea nor a cost wise option...!

However, if you have a negative reaction with the normal CA and have good results with the special non-odour one, there is no reason why you couldn't use it for the type of "soaking" I just mentioned however, I doubt that they make a viscosity in that non-odour formula that has the penetration capabilities of the normal E-Z bond 5 cup CA, I have never found a substitute.

I normally use 4 grades/viscosities of E-Z bond CA, 5, 50, 300 and 700 cups, the most used are the 5 and 300 cups where the thin CA viscosity (5 cup) is used at a rate of 2,000% more than the 300 cup, in other words, for every 16oz bottle of 300 cup CA, I use 20 x 16oz 5 cup CA...!

I hope my explanation makes sense to you and others...!

Cheers
George


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## Ambidex (Dec 4, 2013)

Those are just beautiful George. Very, very well done! And I hope everything went smoothly with the operation...ah..from the post dates I guess it must have?


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## robutacion (Dec 4, 2013)

Ambidex said:


> Those are just beautiful George. Very, very well done! And I hope everything went smoothly with the operation..*.ah..from the post dates I guess it must have?*



About 20 years of bleeding and painful hemorrhoids ( I call the a$$ grapes mostly internal in this case), that was the reason for me to have been in the emergency room a couple of years ago, from losing too much blood, 4 units of blood and 3 days later, they send me home, instead of resolving the issue right then. I have spoke a little about this issue here, when I got back from the hospital, then.

Is like going to a tyre place with a flat tyre that endup being a slow leak, which they simply pumped up to the right pressure, and sent you on to the road, absolutely ridiculous...!

It's done now, and over 8 hours after the operation, I'm suspiciously pleased that there has been little pain, the strong dose of pain killers obviously kept it under control but, I know what is coming and I know that will not last much longer my "surprise", tonight and tomorrow, I'm certain that I will pay the price however, I will take it anytime compared to certains episodes I had, in all these years so, it all will be better, in the end...!

For those that think, this is just "too much information", sure I understand and I apologise to them however, and particularly in man after a certain age, this problem is a lot more common than most people want to believe, those that "have been there and done that", will know of what I'm talking about...!

I would also to use this opportunity, to thank those that commented on my work and that wished a speedy recovery from my latest ordeal, thank you...!:wink::biggrin:

Cheers
George


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## OZturner (Dec 5, 2013)

Great Job on the Burls George, 
love the results, specially the Salmon Burl, and the York Burl.
Your Finish was spectacular.
Sorry to hear about your "flat tyre problem", 
Glad you are now properly fixed, and you now know exactly how the non breading Rams on the Sheep Stations feel, well probably not exactly, but near enough.
Keep Smiling.
Congratulations, 
Brian.


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## Fishinbo (Dec 5, 2013)

Those are absolutely gorgeous bowls especially the legged one. You have great looking burls and awesome finish. Excellent turning and wish you good health always!


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## Bob Wemm (Dec 5, 2013)

Hey George,  Glad to see that you are back with us.

I hope the back end is not as bad as you anticipated.

Get well soon.

Bob.


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## robutacion (Dec 5, 2013)

Bob Wemm said:


> Hey George,  Glad to see that you are back with us.
> 
> I hope the back end is not as bad as you anticipated.
> 
> ...



Well...! what can I say..??? it is a damn pain in the a$$, period...!:redface:

Now I know how Japanese Geishas feel, with their silly walking style, it ain't funny...!:wink::biggrin:

Cheers
George


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## johncrane (Dec 5, 2013)

Well done George! thats some nice turning there. i know all about Geisha walking, without the skirt :wink:


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## David Keller (Dec 6, 2013)

Beautiful work, George!  Must be nice to have someone drop off blanks of that quality...  That's seriously pretty stuff!

Off topic...  How's the laser illuminator working?


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## robutacion (Dec 6, 2013)

David Keller said:


> Beautiful work, George!  Must be nice to have someone drop off blanks of that quality...  That's seriously pretty stuff!
> 
> Off topic...  How's the laser illuminator working?



Thanks David...!

I know what you mean mate, burls are burls and Australia is well known to produce some of the best burls in the world however, it would be a very king mistake to thing that all burls are easy to work with, some of these old, very dry burls are as tough as cement, I'm glad carbide tools was invented...!

On the other hand, these burls here great and he just dropped another 3 burls yesterday and picked-up the 3 pieces done, the man was pleased...!:wink::biggrin:

Now, I should also say that, I don't have these type burls growing near me (unfortunately) BUT, I have great LOCAL woods and blanks capable to produce some exquisite work also and you known well what I'm talking about, I've seen some amazing work coming out of your hands with blanks supplied my me so, haha...!:wink::biggrin:

As for the IR Iluminator, I was right from day one, they don't do what they are advertised they are capable of but, there is a major improvement from what I received the first time that worked for 2 hours and the replacement IR.  It was a factory fault there somewhere and I knew they couldn't be that bad so, considering the odds, I'm OK with the replacement, thanks...!:wink:

Have a safe and pleasant Festive Season...!

Cheers
George


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## SDB777 (Dec 6, 2013)

Don't imagine you have one of those 'coring tools' to save some material during the turning of something as unique as these burls seen here.....

Glad your feeling better too!  Shows you how bad it was once it has been fixed correctly.



The turnings must have fetched you some nice change, top of the line as they are!!  Hope I get to turn some stuff that looks like that one day......thanks for sharing and making me drool in my easy chair!







Scott (pull my finger and make the kids giggle) B


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