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From The Forest to The Table in 31 Days

Updated: May 26

5th Nov 2022

This Arbutus (Madrone) Tree was cut down by contractors in July sometime.
This Arbutus (Madrone) Tree was cut down by contractors in July sometime.

(They can cut with permission during fire restrictions)


We cut the burl/stump up and removed it Sept 23rd, notice the green shoots sprouting up. Due to the fire ban being put back to “extreme” the chunks sat for a week or so in the yard. Once the ban was reduced to “High” we were able to use the chain saws in the morning and processed the chunks of burl. We divided up our labor into 2 equal piles, a coin toss determines who gets what pile.
We cut the burl/stump up and removed it Sept 23rd, notice the green shoots sprouting up. Due to the fire ban being put back to “extreme” the chunks sat for a week or so in the yard. Once the ban was reduced to “High” we were able to use the chain saws in the morning and processed the chunks of burl. We divided up our labor into 2 equal piles, a coin toss determines who gets what pile.


 

  • Oct 3rd Rough turned a bunch of bowl blanks, processed 48 3x3x12 pepper mill blanks.

  • Oct 4th Boiled a bunch of mill blanks and 6 bowl blanks, typical boil time 6 to 8 hours start to finish in a 60-gallon SS boil pot. It takes over 3 hours for my pot to start boiling when full of water and arbutus turnings. I like to leave the boiled wood soak overnight and cool down slowly. They actually absorb more water by leaving them but it seems to dry faster.

  • Oct 5th Removed the wood from the boil pot and set them along the garage wall to air dry in the sunshine, you need the surface water to dry quickly. This also works well if you remove them right after the boil is done. I do it both ways and think letting them cool slower is less stressful. The issue is watching for mold, dry to fast and they may still crack, dry to slow and they may get moldy.

  • Oct 5th This blank I chose weighed 85 oz, I placed it along with all of the other boiled pieces on stickers in basement with a dehumidifier 24/7 and a fan on a timer. I check the wood daily and reduce the fan time as needed. Initially the fan runs 8 hrs. per day, if I see cracking, I unplug the fan from the timer.

  • Oct 14th The blank weighed 55 oz, the blank was put back on the lathe and returned thin (about ¼”) and then put in the shop beer fridge, the returned weight was 19.95 oz.

  • Oct 25th Weight 15 oz, removed blank from the fridge, remounted on the lathe and a few final finishing cuts. Sanded to 600 and removed the tenon, finished the bottom. Finished weight 13.33 oz,

  • Oct 28th 1st coat tung oil applied, 6 more coats will follow over the next week.

  • This Arbutus Burl bowl measures 10 3/8” diameter X 4” depth

  • Nov 4th Five coats of tung oil have been applied, weight 13.47 ounces


first coat of tung oil applied
first coat of tung oil applied

5 coats of tung oil applied
5 coats of tung oil applied

the finished bottom
the finished bottom



 
 
 

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