The Burl Tree How

I was asked by email how I turned the Burl tree .Here are two pictures that show the process.
The piece was mounted with the aid of hot melt glue to what I term the slide ..A bowl was turned then the piece remounted in the new position .The straps were added for extra safety as I had to wind up the speed to get a cut that saved on sanding .A unique piece of timber .I enjoyed making this .
Comments welcomed see my web site for a full explanation
http://www.timberly.co.nz/terry_articles.htm

Hull method of Holding and turning

This is how I go about turning the hulls for my canoes and boats .
The Hull is first turned between centres ,2 centres if you want to form a keel .This is an act in itself if you want the keel line to be kept straight Then I mount the hull onto a slide with the aid of hot melt glue and turn the over lapping bowls .The set out is very important if crisp lines are to be maintained

Pine sailing detail

PINE SAILING
Latest work made for the Kawerau wood skills competition next weekend
Category Pine
The Hull is 600mm long turned on two centres to form the hull shape and keel .Then turned on a slide with 13 centres to form the ribs with a Koru design then branded inside .Internally was sprayed with an airbrush so when you move around the piece the colours change.The sails and hull were sprayed with lacquer
The sails were turned to 2 mm as a big platter then cut up .Two platters were required so the grain became horizontal.
The mast was turned and then steam bent so the vessel looks like it is under sail .A rebate was first cut into the mast so the sail fitted into the slot .
The stand was turned from acrylic then cut in half to form the cradle
Comments welcome
More of my work can be seen at www.timberly.co.nz
To wind ward






















Genoa and bow

Pine Sailing

Team NewZealand

Ok Girls and boys, you haven’t seen any posts for a while, you see I have been rather busy preparing for an exhibition called Crawled out of the woodwork and secondly work for the Kawerau wood skills festival.(plus my real job came calling )
If you go to http://www.timberly.co.nz/news.htm I have placed a link to the last 2 years of the Kawerau competition and also the Crawled out of the woodwork.
Every year at Kawerau they add a different category on top of the normal ones being
Pinus radiata Anything made from pine doesn’t have to be woodturned
Carving, traditional
Carving any kind
Traditional woodturning has to have less than 10% carving or embellishment
Artistic woodturning any turning with more than 10% carving or embellishment
This years extra was a category called Kiwiana anything NewZealand

I looked up the net and came up with items like a buzzy bee, kiwifruit, tiki, e.t.c
These didn’t help with an idea .On our coffee table we have a book called The history of the Americas cup bingo .I decided I would try and make a scaled model of black magic .Hopefully it will be seen as Kiwiana .This may well be the only woodturned item in this section .You have to be in to win as they say
The hull was turned between centres and then mounted using my backing board system and 15 bowls turned over lapping to form the ribs, a Koru pattern was then painstakingly burnt inside.
The keel was carved separately and a bulb shape turned and added.
The perplex stand was also turned
The hull has 2 coats of black lacquer then about 10 clear to give depth to the water like appearance.
The anti fowl area was then masked off and a white, then a grey tint sprayed on followed by 10 coats of clear lacquer. I didn’t like the end result of the atifowl so then sprayed with incandescent paint followed by another 5 of lacquer with an airbrush .It know has the appearance of just being lifted out of the water
The scale is 1/30
Comments welcomed

Waka

Waka 3 measuring 600mm long this piece was turned between centers on 2 axis to form the hull and keel Remounted with hot melt glue then 12 bowls were turned overlapping to form the ribs of the canoe .About 4 kg of lead were required to balance the piece
Made from Kauri the internal texture was then applied with a pyrography machine in a koru pattern .
More images can been seen in new work on my web site www.timberly.co.nz
This piece has just been entered into the artistic category at the kawerau wood skills competition next weekend

http://www.timberly.co.nz/terry_newwork.htm cut and paste this link to see more images

THE BURL TREE
I think the burl branch is red beech, but
I am not sure. The plan was simple -
make each of the eight burrs into a
small bowl and leave them still attached
to the tree. The operation was not so
simple.
The work is mounted onto what I call
the slide and this is moved around on
the MDF flywheel which is attached to
a 150mm face plate. I levelled and
secured the wood into the position I
required with the aid of wedges and hot
melt glue. The straps are an extra
precaution. The whole device is then
balanced with strategically placed
lumps of lead securely attached.
For each of the eight bowls the log was
re-attached and re-balanced. On
occasions I had difficulty getting the chisel down between two burls and
changes of shape were needed. When I came to do the burl on the bottom
end I didn’t have enough swing and had to cut 100mm off the other end.
The ninth bowl on the very top was turned last between centres. Some
carving was then needed to blend the cuts between bowls and restore
shape to the slimmed down branch. Airbrushing highlighted the texture
on the tree.
The burl which serves as the base was scribed around the base of the burl
tree. As this piece stands 600mm high it needed something to give it
stability.
Please note that attempting a piece like this can be rather daunting unless
you understand how to balance the work. My lathe weighs 650kg and is
bolted to the floor. This helps, but if any vibration is felt, you haven’t
spent enough time getting it balanced.
Oh, by the way, on the Monday I had to go and buy some more trailer
tie-downs as they were a bit short after this exercise. I am proud to say
this piece now sits alongside 250 others in a private collection in Hong.
Go To I think the burl branch is red beech, but
I am not sure. The plan was simple -
make each of the eight burrs into a
small bowl and leave them still attached
to the tree. The operation was not so
simple.
The work is mounted onto what I call
the slide and this is moved around on
the MDF flywheel which is attached to
a 150mm face plate. I levelled and
secured the wood into the position I
required with the aid of wedges and hot
melt glue. The straps are an extra
precaution. The whole device is then
balanced with strategically placed
lumps of lead securely attached.
For each of the eight bowls the log was
re-attached and re-balanced. On
occasions I had difficulty getting the chisel down between two burls and
changes of shape were needed. When I came to do the burl on the bottom
end I didn’t have enough swing and had to cut 100mm off the other end.
The ninth bowl on the very top was turned last between centres. Some
carving was then needed to blend the cuts between bowls and restore
shape to the slimmed down branch. Airbrushing highlighted the texture
on the tree.
The burl which serves as the base was scribed around the base of the burl
tree. As this piece stands 600mm high it needed something to give it
stability.
Please note that attempting a piece like this can be rather daunting unless
you understand how to balance the work. My lathe weighs 650kg and is
bolted to the floor. This helps, but if any vibration is felt, you haven’t
spent enough time getting it balanced.
Oh, by the way, on the Monday I had to go and buy some more trailer
tie-downs as they were a bit short after this exercise. I am proud to say
this piece now sits alongside 250 others in a private collection in Hong.
See http://www.timberly.co.nz/terry_articles.htm
For pictures of how I held this piece on the lathe

ANCIENT KAURI STUMP

Gordon Pembridge (top) and I retrieving a bit of ancient kauri from Takanini .We ended up getting about 5 cubic meters from this lump .This was just one root of an Ancient kauri tree
See our web site www.timberly.co.nz for works made from this find .In this area the carbon dating stated that the kauri was 750 years old .
In this peat land being subdivided for residential sections there is believed to be two layers of kauri .The second 70 feet below the present level
Strange but both have the trees laying all the same way .
The contractors have to remove all the stumps as they end up coming to the surface over time as the peat compacts .They find them by xraying the ground .Then the fun begins some of these logs and stumps are so big that 2 and some times three 20 tonne diggers are used to hall them out .What is not taken away by woodturners ,furniture makers and carvers is ground up into chips .

About Terry Introduction

I have always enjoyed working with wood, first as a builder and property developer, and then also as a woodturner. New Zealand has an enthusiastic woodturning community, perhaps because our native timber is plentiful and highly-figured, and our forests and shorelines inspirational.

Although I continue to turn embellished platters and other pieces for local galleries and to order, over the past several years I have increasingly focused on work that is less functional, exploring the artistic possibilities of form, carving, texture, and color. I enjoy creating pieces that require planning and unique ways of holding the wood, and that raise questions as to “how it was done.” My signature pieces involve two, three or four wings on a textured bowl or lidded box, but I continue to take my enjoyment of unique forms and surface treatments in other directions as well, creating pieces that reflect a broad range of approaches and techniques.

An important part of the turning experience, for me, is learning from and helping other turners. I have attended numerous “Turnarounds” (including Australia’s largest event each year since 2000), and many Collaboration events with artists in other media. I have been an active member of the South Auckland Woodurners Guild since 1996 (including several terms as President) where I am a frequent demonstrator at our weekly meetings. Demonstrating enables me to “give something back”, and I enjoy the lively give-and-take and the questions that always arise.

I have regularly entered most of the major national woodturning shows in New Zealand, as I enjoy the challenge and benefit from the judges’ feedback. Examples:

Royal Easter Show: awards each year since 2001 have included Firsts in bowls, lidded boxes, hollow forms, and sculptural/abstract. Supreme Exhibit in 2008, Best Overall Woodturner in 2006, and Best of Show in 2004

Franklin Arts Festival: awards each year since 2001 (except for 2006, when I was a judge) have included Firsts in hollow forms, decorated bowls and platters, miniatures, and lidded boxes. Best of Show in 2001 and 2004

Thames Society of the Arts (Best of Show, 2007); National Woodskills Festival (First in traditional woodturning 2007); Working with Wood (Best of Show 2005 and 2006); Northland Kauri Festival (Best of Best 2006); and a number of others.

Additional lists of achievements can be seen on my web site www.timberly.co.nz under achievements

My work has been commissioned and displayed by a number of corporations and public facilities including the Bruce Pullman Events Centre, the New Zealand Olive Growers Association, Cornwall Park Trust, and Vodafone. I have also exhibited and sold work through . The Primea Gallery la ,Morgan Street gallery Newmaret Nz ,Textures Gallery Newmarket NewZealand ,.Kiwi Artz Online gallery

2006, I was chosen as a weekly gallery selector for World of Woodturners website (WOW)

I n addition I have many pieces in collections around the world