Anyone turned a root ball?

We recently cut down an apple tree and not wanting to waste any of the wood I looked into turning the root ball. It was pretty knarly but I did manage to get a small cylinder about 4" in diameter and maybe 6" long (which is another story). Looks like a burl to me but it is very wet wood. Anyway, I sealed it and will see what happens. Also got a couple of pieces of the trunk that are about 12" long and maybe 6" in diameter and sealed those too.

I have done a (very) little research on the I to see if a root ball and a burl are the same thing and from what I can see they are not. Burls seem to come mainly from above ground and seem to form mostly around limbs that have been cut or broken off, or some other type of damage or stress to the area. A root ball is, of course, below ground and a normal part of the growth of all trees. So if a root ball is not a burl, has anyone ever turned a root ball?

Wayne

A classic burl is characterized by budding in the sapwood, not at the pith. It is analogous to a tumor, in that there is unrestrained and random growth. Injuries can be overgrown by the bark and sapwood until a direct path for water and nutrients are reestablished, though sometimes the fistula persists for years, making the exposed wood prone to rot, as with an embedded branch. .

The root ball you are dealing with is probably the point at which the varietal is grafted onto a sturdier rootstock. It will have a variety of grain directions, and will not warp predictably as straighter-grained stock will. It will also have a lot of "figure" which makes it worth the effort. English walnut grafted to black walnut rootstocks often make large and attractive bulges.

Blast the whole with high-pressure water to clear as much embedded grit as possible, and be prepared to cope with remaining grit and grain as you turn. I'd go for a natural edge and cut thin, allowing the shrink to go as it pleases rather than work up against greater thickness and possibly split. If you go for a TDT (turn, dry, turn) you will want to dry it gently or even boil to reduce the internal stress.