A Christmas Bowl of Burl for Kathy

Several years ago while visiting Benjamin and his family in Oregon, I picked up a chunk of myrtlewood burl.   I decided to see what would emerge from this piece of burl using the lathe. Here are the results.

Burls form when a tree is stressed and creates a deformed growth pattern yielding a large bulbous mass with grain that appears to have small notty structures that are really dormant buds.

Myrtlewood is only found in Northern California and the Southern Oregon coast. Burl is prized because of its highly figured grain.

The bowl is 5 inches in diameter and about 2.5 inches high.

I found my lathe in the garage!

Created a bowl for a colleague who is retiring. I have been wanting to try this technique for a while now ... keeping a square profile on a turned object. I've got a smashed thumb and several cut fingers to prove that this is a dangerous technique. However, I am pleased with how the bowl turned out (no pun intended).  The bowl is turned from walnut, maple, and quarter sawn sycamore.