Burl walnut veneer core ...

About 4 years ago my brother-in-law, Hans Volkmann, gave me a 'log'. He had apparently bought it years before with the intention of sculpting it but had never done so. He could not tell me what sort of wood it was. It has been lying in my shed since then.

A couple of weeks ago I hauled out the lump from the bottom of the woodpile. It looked like a very dry burl. Indeed I suspected that it was walnut. I cut some of it up onto small bowl blanks and have since turned a couple of georgeous vessels from it. I'll post some pics soon. While I was busy with one piece on the lathe, Geoff Barton who runs theoffcuts section of Rare Woods stopped buy to deliver info to Gigi for the club newsletter. Looking at the impression of the drive dog on the end of the 'log' he confirmed my suspicion that the piece was actually the core of a log that had been used to make veneer. He confirmed later after conferring with the owner of Rare Woods, Rory Wood (yes believe it!) that it was walnut that Rory had imported about 25 years ago. ... and yes the wood is dry!

Last evening I took a couple of the vessels I had turned from the core to the show and tell at the club. I'll post pics of these georgeous vessels after I have photographed them tomorrow morning. Graeme Hill mentioned to me that Rory Wood had actually ordered 'walnut scraps' from an overseas supplier, expecting to receive scrap walnut planks. He was apparently surprised and dissapointed to receive these veneer cores. Never mind, I have put at least one of them to very good use 25 years later.



See the impression of the drive dog on this end of the 'log'



The wood has lots of character!