HELP!! Turning Burl (Trying that is)

[ragswl4]

That could be the problem depending upon the length of the cone on your live cener.. With a 7" long tool rest you may not be able to get the tool rest close enough to the blank...

Thanks, never thought of that. The pen mandrel I have can be extended easily with a few extra bushings. I'll do that and try it out.

[Russianwolf]

Thanks, never thought of that. The pen mandrel I have can be extended easily with a few extra bushings. I'll do that and try it out.

be careful not to overtighten the nut on the mandrel rod either. this can put extra preassure on the blank and increase the chance of a blowout.

Once you have the blank turned round, lossen the nut so it just tight enough to make a cut, but if you get a catch the blank will spin.

I'm actually moving to turning between centers without the mandrel all together. It takes a bit more time since rounding takes longer, but it takes out several factors that can lead to out of round turning.

[ragswl4]

be careful not to overtighten the nut on the mandrel rod either. this can put extra preassure on the blank and increase the chance of a blowout.

Once you have the blank turned round, lossen the nut so it just tight enough to make a cut, but if you get a catch the blank will spin.

I'm actually moving to turning between centers without the mandrel all together. It takes a bit more time since rounding takes longer, but it takes out several factors that can lead to out of round turning.

I suspect that I have been tightening the mandrel nut too much. I am going to try a couple of burls this morning. One thing I have started doing is setting the bandsaw table to 45 degrees and loping of the square corners of the blank to an eight sided blank. That reduces to amount I have to turn off and also allows for shallower cuts. I cut it after I have glued in the tube.

Thanks for all the advice from everyone on this post and Merry Christmas and have a prosperous New Year.