With my passenger out of the way I was able to continue the roughing down to the foot. Along the way I readjusted the tail center to cut away more of the branch and less of the burl. There is a very strong tactile change when cutting through the end grain of the branches. This is just one of the things that makes burls fun.
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I clearly defined the base to get away from the spur center and leave a good surface for gluing a waste block. It is important to remember that a lot of torque can take place when hollowing and a waste block diameter does not force a base diameter. For this piece I am intending to use a 3" block and face plate and am turning the foot accordingly. However, it is likely that the foot of the finished vase will be no more than two inches. We will see as we go.
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Exciting times can happen when least expected. As I was coning the tenon and flattening the base, a chip came up and hit me on the face shield. There was no catch so I must assume a fault in the wood. Again this is not uncommon on a burl. Always wear a face shield! Thankfully, the vase stayed on the lathe.
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A bit of a trim with a chisel and a waste block and face plate were ready to be epoxied in place. I find that epoxy gives me a safety edge in these softwood burls and is no harder to remove than other glue blocks.
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