Cherry Burl Shawl Pin

I turned the circular part of this cherry burl shawl pin from a small cutoff from a cherry burl vase project (not quite finished as of the moment).  The stick pin part was turned from a piece of regular cherry.  The round piece measures just over 2" across; the stick pin is 4 ½" long.

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Cherry Burl Bowl

I'd had a piece of cherry burl sitting around the shop for at least a couple of years and hadn't been able to figure out what to do with it.  I think it was the product of one of our club raffles.  Part of the problem was its odd appearance:  it looked like it had been hacked out of a tree with a hatchet - had no discernible shape, and many hatchet-chop facets all around - and it was impossible to tell what it had originally looked like.  Inspired, I guess, or maybe just made a little braver by the success of the cherry burl hollow form I'd just turned (see previous entry), I cut flats on the ends, put the chunk between centers and started turning for exterior shape.  Ultimately I turned a 100mm tenon on one end to mount in a chuck for hollowing, and just kept at it.  The completed piece (finished with Watco Danish Oil - Natural) is pictured here.  There are a number of bark inclusions and some gaps that run all the way through from outside to inside, which is one reason I didn't try to make the piece any thinner.  As a result it's a little heavy in the hand, but not too bad, and I think the overall appearance came out pretty well.  It measures about 6 ½" across and is 4 ¼" high.

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Cherry Burl Hollow Form (Vase)

In the gift exchange at our club's Christmas party I received a couple cherry branch sections with large burls.  I turned this hollow form from the smaller of the two.  (I put the branch ends between centers, rough turned the outside and put a tenon on one end; then reversed the piece, gripped the tenon in a chuck, finished turning the outside, and hollowed it out; finally I reversed the piece again, used the chuck in expansion mode to grip the opening by the inside edges, and turned the base.)  Since the wood was still green there was a lot of movement in the surface when it dried, as you can see in the pictures, which lends a very organic - even ancient - look to the piece, I think.  It measures about 7 ½" tall, and 4" across at its widest.

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