I have been working on a sugar maple burl provided by a logger in Grand Marais, MN. The burl wrapped part way around a 10" diameter log. I decided to cut the log perpendicular to its axis to give two pieces for end-grain turning. The two pieces have colorful salting patterns and are shown in the second photo below. These pieces are about 11" in diameter. The next images show each piece on the lathe and the results of turning the two bowls. These bowls were turned green and ne

This post is a follow-up to the previous blog post. I decided that I could turn a second bowl from that large piece of the elm crotch I was given by the city of Grand Marais. The image shows the original piece minus the section that was cut out for the first bowl (see previous blog post). I cut a 7" thick piece just to the right of the gap from the first piece. I noted that the bark was intact all the way around so if I was lucky I could turn a second bark edged bowl. The nex

Several very old elm trees in down town Grand Marais were cut down by the highway department this year due to work on highway 61 this summer. Cutting down these trees was controversial since the trees were beautiful and loved by local residents. The wood was made available to local artists to preserve some of the beauty of these trees. I was given a large crotch piece from one of these trees. The following photos show the 24" diameter crotch with a cross-section piece removed