15kg/33lbs Burl (800kb of pics)

[Toasty]

Well today I broke new ground for me and my DVR3000 by tackling a 33lbs piece of burl I picked up at some markets a few weeks ago. I think it is red gum, but I am not 100% sure. I wish I had one of those bowl saver systems because I could have gotten at least an additional bowl out of this piece. But I don't have one so tough.

I wanted to retain as much of the natural outside shape as possible so I only put a basic foot on the piece then turned the inside and left a natural rim.

For speed I only went up to 400rpm as anything above that and the lathe started walking about the shop. If the lathe was bolted down I believe I could have confidently spun this at 600rpm. Speaking of which the DVR3000 did an absolutly fantastic job with this chunk of wood. It never felt like it was struggling at all and I will happily throw larger pieces on this lathe in the future. THIS sort of turning is what I envisiged myself doing with the DVR3000 and I am pleased to report it came through with flying colours.

The finished weight of the burl is 7kg/15lbs, so it's still a hefty piece. At the moment it's still raw, trying to figure out if I want to put any finish on it at all. A buffed in gloss oil would really bring out the red in the wood...

So I am quite exhausted and sore after doing this today. It took a fair bit of effort and burl is always so dense to work. Think I need a beer about now.

Anyway, enjoy.

Here is the burl sitting on the lathe to give you an idea of its size
http://roadstarmagazine.com/woodturning/bigburl-1.jpg

I used the burl as an excuse to buy a 100mm jaw set and 100mm faceplate ring for my SuperNova2.
http://roadstarmagazine.com/woodturning/bigburl-2.jpg

Here it is mounted on the SN2. The bark didn't clear the bed but that was no problem as I figured once I got the bark off it should be OK
http://roadstarmagazine.com/woodturning/bigburl-3.jpg

Removed all the bark to expose the raw burl beneath
http://roadstarmagazine.com/woodturning/bigburl-5.jpg

Even with the bark off it is only JUST clearing the bed. Remember the DVR3000 has a 16" swing
http://roadstarmagazine.com/woodturning/bigburl-6.jpg

I turned down the bottom enough that it would sit without falling over. Unfortunatly the spigot I made was a fraction too small for the 100mm jaws (doh) but I was able to expand them instead and it gripped no problem.
http://roadstarmagazine.com/woodturning/bigburl-7.jpg

The finished inside. I power sanded the rim with a drill and also used it and the rotary sander you see on the inside. I went down to 320grit
http://roadstarmagazine.com/woodturning/bigburl-8.jpg

One pic of the finished piece
http://roadstarmagazine.com/woodturning/bigburl-9.jpg

Another pic of the finished piece
http://roadstarmagazine.com/woodturning/bigburl-99.jpg

Time to go have that beer I reckon.

[ss_11000]

cool piece of work....i really like the outside of the bowl

enjoy your beer. btw nice lathe

[Groggy]

http://www.ubeaut.biz/homer.gif I'm impressed!

[black1]

bloody s#ithot looking piece of work:cool:

[exchalkie]

Great work, Toasty! I've just bought a DVR XP. Now that I can see the sort of heavy duty work it can do I'll be a bit more adventurous.
Cheers
David

[Caveman]

Really nice work Toasty! Love the pictures and the result.
I recently had an adrenaline packed hour or so when I had a large lump of acacia on my old record coronet - it weighed 18kgs. Like you I never got the speed up to more than 450rpm - next speed up was 900 and no way was I going to try that. Turned out quite nice in the end and I'm glad the bearings survived.

[Toasty]

G'day All,

Thanks for the kind words. It definitly was an experience and I have another large burl of Yellowbox waiting for me to get up the nerve to tackle. The Yellowbox is really out of shape though and I will have to dynabolt the lathe to the floor before I take it on.

[Speanwoody]

what a cracking piece of wood and god work too, well done:rolleyes:

[Toasty]

The bad news is it is actually in the process of cracking. Seems she may have still been a touch green. Boogers.

p.s. No work of god involved, just little ole me :P

[Wood worrier]

Shame about the cracking, burrs are never really dry though. Hope you can save it, beautiful timber (and turning).

[TTIT]

Good stuff Toasty :D! Definitely wants a coat of oil to bring out the colour. Thanks for the pictorial.:) Wish my lathe was up to scratch for such large pieces but will have to wait a while for an upgrade.

[Toasty]

Was getting some pictures off the camera for another bowl I turned and found the one I forgot I took where I oiled that burl up. Well half oiled in the picture. Sure made the colour come alive!

http://roadstarmagazine.com/woodturning/bigburloiled2.jpg

[ss_11000]

the oil brings out the colour very well. good to see theres not much heavy cracking.