Below I copied some of the text I entered on another thread that explains the project. Opening up the Paperbark Birch and finding it was really, really spalted was a major treat.
Here's the set-up:
And some photos of the piece at the current stage. It has about 5 heavy coats of 100% Pure Tung Oil (food grade oil) that the wood took up like a sponge. More stock reduction was done following the Tung Oil. I just wanted to get some on there ASAP to help prevent checking, etc.
When done the small knob of a branch stump will have a copper sleeve (as seen in one photo) and from the top end I've yet to decide what exactly to do. I've cut pieces of Plateaux Briar, Black Palm and a long piece of staaned Maple Birl to fit...might use one of those, might use a piece of Reindeer Antler. This is the first of 3 pieces of the Spalted Birch that are roughly the same size...so there are two more to work with that have all solid wood...no cracks at all. I might do another bowl or two or turn the wood into knife handle blocks.
As you can see, the level of spalting is dramatic!
Information on Spalting:
http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/_spalted.htm
The pics:
Here's the set-up:
beetlejazz - you got me going with your comment about the kuksa. I went out to the shed and found a good piece of Paperbark Birch and cut it into sections. While not burl (which doesn't grow locally) this piece has been curing for two years and when I sawed the sections off I saw that it was well spalted inside. So I started making my own kuksa...or what will turn out to be a ladel I think. I cut from one end that was full of checking and went down to what I thought was solid wood...but there was still some checking in it. So I'm considering it a practice piece.
I left a circle of the white bark around the outside (maybe I'll take it off later). The pieces are a bit over 4" in diameter and I have two left that are totally solid. I reviewed several tutorials dealing with how to make a kuksa and will follow most of what they said. The first one, however, since it's not burl, is oriented with the depth of the bowl along the line of the branch so that the rings form circles both inside and outside the tapered walls. I used a side branch (I almost always leave an inch of any major branch in place as they can usually be incorporated into a design of some kind...on my walking sticks they most often form the nose of a character I carve as the top.) In this item the branch piece forms the base of a handle, which will be inserted into a copper tube that's like a collar, about 2 1/2" long. Then if it continues to be a ladel a Cherry or Walnut dowel will go into the other end to form the long handle.
At this point, the inside of the bowl is nearly complete, except for some final stock removal and smoothing, and the bottom is nicely rounded. I'd like to make the bowl thinner that it is, but don't dare as even the slight checking would likely cause one section to break apart. I'm unsure as the whether I'll use Tung Oil to impregnate the wood and harden the slight checks or use some other material like a glue of some sort. Once I'm done I'll post some photos.
And to think I had another project about 90% done...and now it sits. lol
And some photos of the piece at the current stage. It has about 5 heavy coats of 100% Pure Tung Oil (food grade oil) that the wood took up like a sponge. More stock reduction was done following the Tung Oil. I just wanted to get some on there ASAP to help prevent checking, etc.
When done the small knob of a branch stump will have a copper sleeve (as seen in one photo) and from the top end I've yet to decide what exactly to do. I've cut pieces of Plateaux Briar, Black Palm and a long piece of staaned Maple Birl to fit...might use one of those, might use a piece of Reindeer Antler. This is the first of 3 pieces of the Spalted Birch that are roughly the same size...so there are two more to work with that have all solid wood...no cracks at all. I might do another bowl or two or turn the wood into knife handle blocks.
As you can see, the level of spalting is dramatic!
Information on Spalting:
http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/_spalted.htm
The pics: