new to burls

[iwoodtoo]

WW was kind enough to send me a burl freebee with my last order (thank you Bill and Lilian) and i am wondering if i need some pointers in properly shaping this type of medium.
i am so new to pen turning and hope to learn from the vast
group of experts here.

thank to all

Frank

[Marcel]

Burls are not harder to turn with sharp tools.

The difference is that the grain is usually going all over the place, not in one direction only. So you end up with and across the grain in the same cut pass.

Make sure it's glued properly, don't be too agressive in your cuts (remember your ABC of woodturning: Approach, Bevel, Cut) and you shouldn't have any problems or blowouts.

Have fun,

[Eric Spatt]

Frank,

First... you are about to enter into a new world of pen turning..the quality of the grain in burl woods make pens look so beautiful. ENJOY the outcome!!!! ..everything Marcel goes.... only thing I can add is be careful sometimes burls could have some soft spots and as you are cutting be careful of different densities in the wood. Remember it is just another piece of wood

[aurrida]

i have found some burls to be very brittle unless stabilized. when using unstabilized i generally apply thin ca regularly as i turn down the blank.