Blackbutt Burl Table

[turnerted]

G'dayI decided it was time to use the capacity of my new lathe , so I decided to make this table .The capacity of my lathe is 480mm and this table top is 600mm so it meant turning it outboard . I do not have a free standing tool rest, but I discovered that by rotating the head to the 60 degree position ,using a packing piece on the faceplate about 60mm thick , and running the lathe in reverse ,I could use the standard toolrest . In fact I could have gone to about 640mm . Vicmarc supply a clamp which prevents the faceplate unscrewing when run in reverse .The burl slab was slightly cupped by about 5mm and when it was trued up, the variation in thickness could be seen on the edge, so I just tapered the back side out until it was even all round.As you can see the surface was full of gum veins and cracks and I filled these with builders bog with black pigment added .I had to do this several times .I found it was easiest to do the initial sanding by unscrewing the burl and resting it face up on the lathe bed, then using a random orbital sander . For the finer sanding grades ,I screwed it back on the lathe and power sanded through the finer grits .The finish is several coats of spraycan polyurethane , sprayed while the lathe was slowly turning .By far the most difficult part of the exercise for me was making the base . I found that I am much better at turning than joinery .Comments welcome.Ted

[orraloon]

Very nice. :2tsup:
Regards
John

[smiife]

Hi ted,
Looks like a fair lump of burl there, and you have done it proud
Well done , nothing wrong the base either looks good too!:2tsup:

[chuck1]

Wow that's a fair chunk of wood for the faceplate. Looks good.
A little more definition in the pedestal turning would be more pleasing for my eye.
Still a great peice of furniture. :)

[hughie]

G'dayI decided it was time to use the capacity of my new lathe , so I decided to make this table .The capacity of my lathe is 480mm and this table top is 600mm so it meant turning it outboard . I do not have a free standing tool rest, but I discovered that by rotating the head to the 60 degree position ,using a packing piece on the faceplate about 60mm thick , and running the lathe in reverse ,I could use the standard toolrest . In fact I could have gone to about 640mm . Vicmarc supply a clamp which prevents the faceplate unscrewing when run in reverse .The burl slab was slightly cupped by about 5mm and when it was trued up, the variation in thickness could be seen on the edge, so I just tapered the back side out until it was even all round.As you can see the surface was full of gum veins and cracks and I filled these with builders bog with black pigment added .I had to do this several times .I found it was easiest to do the initial sanding by unscrewing the burl and resting it face up on the lathe bed, then using a random orbital sander . For the finer sanding grades ,I screwed it back on the lathe and power sanded through the finer grits .The finish is several coats of spraycan polyurethane , sprayed while the lathe was slowly turning .By far the most difficult part of the exercise for me was making the base . I found that I am much better at turning than joinery .Comments welcome.Ted

Well for a bloke who doesnt like joinery its a damn fine effort and looks real good to me. :2tsup:

Just as a side note I fill mine or similar with clear epoxy and spirit base colour, I just pour it in and let it set.

[Paul39]

Turnerted,

I think the whole table is wonderful, top and base.

I took the liberty to adjust the dark photos in Picasa and include them below.

Picasa is a free program that can be downloaded.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picasa