Bowl turning blank for a veneer rosette?

[Doug Shaker]

I am planning a rosette with a larger circle of walnut burl and a smaller circle of
reconstituted stone. I looked around for walnut that had the look I wanted and
what I found was a walnut burl turning blank, originally intended for turning bowls.

This wood was harvested green and sealed in wax, as those are the
requirements for bowl turning.

Is there a technique for making veneer slices out of such a bowl blank that you
know of?

[Ron Belanger]

Make a cradle to hold it steady and cut it on the bandsaw.

[Adam Savage]

Hi,
I dont suppose it matters which particular face you are wanting to use the grain from, but if you have access to a bandsaw and a drum/thickness sander then it shouldnt be too tricky. First off, square up the face you want, and an adjacent face to allow you to register off the bandsaws' fence. Using your bandsaw, cut off a slice 2-3 mm over the thickness you require and then bring this down to final thickness alternating each side as you take a pass through the sander. (the extra 2-3 mm allowing for blade wander/less-than-ideal-cut).
I realise that you have a green blank, but it shouldnt take too long for a thin slice to equilibrate. If in doubt, borrow (if you dont have one) a wood moisture meter and use the slice when it reaches appropriate moisture content.
I have just done this with a piece of padauk (admittedly not green...) for a headstock veneer, and it has worked well.

Good luck,
Adam

[Steve Senseney]

After you slice the piece, place it between a couple pieces of dry plywood and either screw it down or clamp it down.

It will lose moisture quickly to the plywood, and probably warp. This is more likely with the wood being green, and being burl.

After it loses moisture, flatten it out with a clothes iron. After it is dry and flattened out some, start running it through the sander, and use your iron again if needed.

[Doug Shaker]

All good advice. Thanks.

I was thinking of planing the outside face flat, then gluing that face to a piece of water color paper,
prior to slicing it, so that if it was a crumbly slice, it would hold together. Then I could also use the
paper as the down surface when thickness-sanding it. Not sure what I would use for glue, though.

Any reaction to that idea?

[Greg Steil]

MAKE SURE you use a cradle. I had an unpleasent experience of trying to resaw a less than square blank and it shifted at the expense of a 1/2" blade and almost an embarassing laundry problem. It whipped it out of my hand and then the sound of a gunshot....faster than a heartbeat. Be careful.

[Doug Shaker]

Yow! Greg, that sounds like one of those work-habit changing events that wood-workers have from time to time.
I have a forefinger with the scars of short rip cut from one of those. Frightening, but I have to say, I prefer
the results of the rip cut to what I imagine a cross-cut would have been like.

Thanks for the advice.

[Bill Bell]

Doug, I created a tiled rosette just recently and used a tracing paper backing as you mentioned to keep it all together. I used a 3M spray contact cement that worked well.

[Nick Dingle]

I sliced up a couple sections of Jarrah burl on the bandsaw. Worked great. It was very dry, tho. I just sliced them, and then squeegeed epoxy on the back side to stabilise it all. Sanded it to desired thickness, and then used the epoxy to glue it to the headstock and rosette channel.

Here's the rosette.....

Jarrah burl Rosette