Brown Burr Oak Bowl – Man V Bowl

Brown Burr Oak Bowl – Man V Bowl

Les Thorne decides to do battle with a piece of brown burr oak and the end result is certainly striking, not to mention functional

 

I won’t need to tell most of you that sometimes wood can be a bit of a pain. It will often frustrate you with its splitting and warping, often ruining your beautiful project. I have a large selection of what can be described as ‘character wood’, although I’m more inclined to call it ‘problem timber’. If you’re a relative beginner and you have pieces like these, put them to the back of the workshop and practice on an easier project before returning to something like this when you’re more experienced.

I’ve had this particular piece of brown oak burr for a while and it came off our local golf course. I did make a project from the same tree a couple of years ago when it was easier to turn and still had some moisture in it, but now the oak has got much harder and will take some turning. I thought this was the perfect piece for trying out some of the new generation turning tools on, which have been introduced to the market over the past few years. The majority of turning tools are made from M2 high speed steel, but these new gouges from Crown Hand Tools are made from M42 HSS and have been cryogenically hardened, so should be ideal for working this hard, abrasive, curly-grained wood.

Read the full article in Good Woodworking September 2017

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