Live Edge Cherry Burl Bowl: A Trip to the Sawyer | Woodturning

In this woodturning video, I turn a live edge bowl out of a Cherry Burl using traditional woodturning gouges.
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[@atupe]

Your photography, editing, and production skills are amazing.

[@carbonitegamorrean8368]

That Maple is nothing short of heavenly.

[@wmwalkerco]

It's pretty crazy looking!

[@jamesfrench8004]

Really enjoy your video style and your wood artistry. What made this video for me was covering the camera lens with the bowl. Very unexpected!

[@paulettemikell1526]

I am grateful for the opportunity to bid on such a beautiful piece of art!! Thanks for the donation, Will, and the delightful shoutout to Maggie and the rest of us conservation minded fish nerds. Cheers to huge success with your woodwork and your videos.

[@Spencer4686]

That is a beautiful bowl. Great job sir!

[@reforzar]

Beautiful work good sir.

[@WoodByWright]

Seriously jealous of your power tool lathe!

[@valeriehenschel1590]

Cherry burls are great, but that maple is absolutely fantastic. Both would be happy on my lathe! I definitely prefer to turn any burl, any time over straight grain.

[@chriswinter8634]

You are one of the most inspirational woodworkers on the web today! Easily my top 3...Thank You so much for the motivational, super professional videos! Your a blessing, keep it up Brother!

[@Chris-hh4ny]

Your narration and ability to tell a story surrounding your projects is next level!

[@wmwalkerco]

Thank you!

[@themiguelpt91]

Your videos are disturbingly satisfying to watch!

[@russellcoburn6920]

Very nice work!

[@BruceAUlrich]

Good video, Will! That's cool that they called you to see that log being milled. And even cooler that he gave you some burls. Sounds like an awesome place!

[@jw9415]

Another Wm. Walker cinematic masterpiece!!

[@stevenkofoed1698]

I love the story, and the bowl is a masterpiece.

[@shaunboydmadethis]

Really cool to see the whole story from the mill to the finished bowl. Nicely done, man!

[@wmwalkerco]

+Shaun Boyd thanks man! I gave you a shout out on the podcast a few weeks ago!

[@shaunboydmadethis]

Oh right on! Really appreciate that! I don't listen to a lot of podcasts but I'll have to check it out.

[@felixfromnebraska8648]

Will, amazing bowl turning. Love your work, and thanks for sharing with the world.

[@sgsax]

Beautiful bowl and great story! I felt like you were reading poetry there for a bit. Thanks for sharing!

[@zfrone1]

Looks awesome, so does that log! Cool to see the inside of it after seeing it sitting there. Also, thanks for helping 🌎

[@ReaperWoodworks]

Gorgeous bowl Will. Also screw you and your fancy cinematography looking all cool and stuff. Awesome as always.

[@BillSinWorkshop]

Cool story and beautiful bowl Will!

[@MakeBrooklyn]

Awesome stuff Will, Love the project, as always, the bowl turned out fantastic but I also love the video production style and quality!! Very well done, keep em coming!!

[@jakecarter2414]

That's an awesome bowl man. Keep up the good work.

[@CammiesGarage]

Wonderful, nicely made video and beautiful bowl.

[@rpederse]

Lovely video. Friends are a good thing.

[@JimDockrellWatertone]

Awesome field trip and bowl. On top of that you made a turning video interesting. Tough job done successfully.

[@wmwalkerco]

Thanks Jim! Great having you in the live chat this morning!

[@colomadavid73]

Love your content Will. Keep it coming!!!

[@tomasarguinzoni9022]

I love your shop and did great job thank you for sharing 👍🏼

[@margeryk6596]

I am new to your channel (found you through the Griz challenge). I love your style. You are a talented artist and a wonderful story teller. Thanks for sharing.

[@wmwalkerco]

Thank you so much!

[@ericosterhout7564]

Awesome video. Just started watching your channel after the Grizzly challenge and I think i'm hooked. Keep it up.

[@KagedCreations08XX]

I need to make the trip over to that saw mill one day. Cool bowl.

[@wmwalkerco]

Yeah you do!

[@jaredstarnes6668]

"A woodworker's fairy tale." Will the red maple be your princess when it's dry?

[@wmwalkerco]

I'm hoping she will be!

[@AbamAdy]

superb awesome as always

[@MakingStuffco]

amazing bowl man!

[@rustedoakhomestead]

I really dig these live edge bowls dude!! They look amazing although I'm slightly intimidated by the turning process. lol Kudos for donating it to serve a good cause!

[@wmwalkerco]

Thanks! Are you intimidated by turning in general or just the process of live edge turning?

[@rustedoakhomestead]

Wm. Walker Co. Live edge specifically. Looks easy to make a mistake resulting in broken fingers lol

[@wmwalkerco]

I've caught a few knuckles. It's not so bad once you can get the speed up and keep the tool in the cut. I get better with tool finishes with practice so I don't have to put my hands in the bowl to sand as much. Something shallow like this isn't too bad either. It gets a little spooky with deep bowls. My "winged" bowls are actually the hardest because you are turning a LOT of air and it's generally kiln dried wood so it's hard as a rock.

[@smokeeater8387]

Definitely cool brother👍🇺🇸

[@Thom4123]

Awesome video Will and that was the craziest tree I’ve ever seen and what beautiful incredible figure inside Mother Nature’s Christmas presents. You should do a video about the mill

[@wmwalkerco]

Do you mean the physical Lucas Mill or the Saw Mill in general? Have you seen my video on taking a field trip to Hackett Enterprises? It was awhile ago.

[@Thom4123]

Wm. Walker Co. Uummm yes. No to do a “ trip to a mill “ and the difference between a mill and hardwood dealer. Just a thought I know up here it a totally different experience. Thank You Will

[@wmwalkerco]

That's an interesting thought. I guess I have so many different sources for wood I just take my experience for granted. It's definitely a different experience going to a mill versus a hardwood dealer.

[@clamdigger]

So, here's the thing... I'm not the biggest fan of turning videos. That said, your videos are so damn good, it makes any project you're doing, amazing! I can't say exactly what it is or if it's everything together but every video is a masterpiece!

[@FredMcIntyre]

Awesome stuff! 👍👊

[@wmwalkerco]

Thanks Fred!

[@mccarthywoodshop1310]

Very nice. Being a green bowl, how do you keep it from splitting? Just leave it thicker? Thanks

[@AndreChaosweapon]

nice piece, so unique and charming! i hope this piece of art will be in good hands. I have a question what about the edge? have some protection, it will loose or break with time or maybe with high temperature and less humidity (summer)?

[@wmwalkerco]

I did go around it with thin CA Glue to try to keep the bark on. These burls were cut in the Winter so that should give the bark a little better chance of staying on when the sap wasn't running in the tree.

[@WoodWorkLIFE]

What part of your shop is the limbo zone you shot the outro in? :) Great video and story as usual. I love supporting local businesses too, glad I am not the only one.

[@wmwalkerco]

That is on the other side of the basement. If you ever see me at the tablesaw you can see a door behind me. It's over there.

[@WoodWorkLIFE]

Wm. Walker Co. cool basement shop. It always looked like you had an out building. Great work man, I always look forward to your videos. Are you heading to WBC this year?

[@wmwalkerco]

Yep. Basement shop. I might have an out building one day, but for now I like my shop. I debated going to WBC but I don't think I'm going to make it this year. After, airfare/gas, hotel, etc. It just seemed like I couldn't justify it.

[@WoodWorkLIFE]

my brother has a huge polebarn, I am so jelly. I was hoping to meet you there, either way. Good luck with everything, keep up the good work, keep em coming. Let me know if you ever might want to work together on something cool.

[@wmwalkerco]

Yeah man! I'd love to collaborate on something. Got any ideas? Shoot me a message on FB

[@johnm1286]

You said the wood was wet, do you not have to let it dry at all before finishing the bowl?

[@diggler306]

Yeah, what's this bowl going to do after someone buys it? Curious about that.

[@wmwalkerco]

The biggest thing to take into account is the wood movement as it dries. As it dries the bowl will warp out of round. With the bowl being live edge, I don't mind that. Since I cut the pith out it likely won't crack, but just move. Adding the wax/oil will help it release the moisture slowly. Any splits/cracking usually happens within the first few days and sometimes even on the lathe if I'm not fast enough. The lathe acts as a big centrifuge and a lot of the moisture gets whipped out. If I cared about the bowl warping I would turn it to 10% of the diameter (10" bowl =1" wall thickness) and let it sit on a shelf for a while to dry out before turning it to it's final wall thickness.

[@pfiltz]

@@wmwalkerco Being a newb, I appreciate this info...

[@NelsoncraftTX]

Will the bowl be auctioned off in person, or will it be auctioned online? The bowl is awesome and sounds like it’s truly for a great cause.

[@wmwalkerco]

It will be auctioned off at the South Carolina American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting. I can double check if it's going to be online or not.

[@NelsoncraftTX]

Wm. Walker Co. awesome! No worries if you can’t get the answer. Just seemed like something worth keeping an eye on!

[@scottm9605]

I think I recognize that Burly log from a post on our local woodworking forum. I wonder how much they gave for that log.

[@wmwalkerco]

The owner of the mill is an Arborist. He took it off of a clients property. He says there is another one she wants gone.

[@scottm9605]

Wm. Walker Co. Good luck for him! Nice!

[@darrensmith5344]

I'm not far from Montpelier, I'm assuming the sawyer is as well correct? if so where are they located I'd love to check them out

[@wmwalkerco]

They are in Palmyra just outside of Zion Crossroads. They are having another open yard day March 16-17 this time with live edge slabs and some thicker bowl blank stuff. Shoot me an email and I'll give you more details infoATwmwalkercoDOTcom

[@furthernorthfab]

Hey Will, I like what you’re doing... 😉

[@jeffgannon1]

I’ve been thinking about buying a lathe. Question. If I just want to turn bowls and vessels how big of a lathe do I need?

[@wmwalkerco]

Great question. There are a few factors in play 1) swing over the bed. How big of bowls do you want to turn? when you read 10x18 or 12x33 the first number is how big of a blank you can swing over the bed. So mine has a 12" swing so I can't turn bowls bigger than that unless I turn "outboard" where the headstock rotates 180 degrees. I have maxed out the swing on my lathe more than once. So that is something to consider but you figure 8-10" bowls are probably the most popular sizes. You can always move up to a bigger model if you find you really like bowl turning. I have yet to need the 33 inches length since I don't do a ton of spindle turning. 2) weight. Since my lathe is a floor standing model I added a 2x10 with cinder blocks on it to weigh it down. Smaller benchtop models I would probably bolt to a heavy bench or make a heavy stand for it. If you turn anything that's out of round and unbalanced you'll soon find out why weight is important. 3) speed. My Harbor Freight 12x33 is a great entry model if you have the space. For the price it's hard to beat although the slowest starting speed is 600rpm which is a bit fast for some out of balance pieces which takes more prep work at the bandsaw/chainsaw. Honestly it's hard to get slower starting speeds without jumping up in price. 4) compatibility. Something I didn't realize with my HF model is it doesn't have a standard tool rest post hole. So aftermarket tool rests (like a curved rest for getting the inside of bowls) don't fit the tool rest post hole. Not a deal breaker but it would've been nice to know. My advice for people is always start with an entry level model that doesn't break the bank and learn what you like/dislike.