Thread: Looking for someone to mill huge burl

Wow you luck bugger in having it. Let's hope you have milling success. Be interesting to see what it's like inside. What's the timber?

There was a bloke on this forum from Gomalling here in WA who posted a large Jarrah burl slab table on a stainless steel frame, it was absolutely stunning.

Buy an old two man pit saw, clean and sharpen it, ask a couple of mates around, and get stuck into it. You’d be quite surprised how quickly you’ll get through it. You’d be extremely lucky to find a powered mill that could handle it, let alone someone who would take it on.
Ive cut lots of big timber with old style hand saws, it’s easy and efficient.

Not close to you, however the bandsaw that Greg and Mal Ward (Boutique Timber’s) have near Port Macquarie NSW may be able to handle it.

I think Riverbuilder is on the right track with an old time hand powered saw. However, a pit saw would be set up for ripping and a crosscut saw might be better for a burl. Standard sizes were commonly listed from 3' to 8' long (or 2.4m in the new money), but the sizes that are commonly seen are between 4' and 5'. This would still work because of the domed shape of the burl. The last, and largest diameter cut, would be the most difficult, but possible by rolling the burl as you run out of saw teeth towards the widest diameter.

I did once cut a large burl using a chainsaw with a 42" bar: I had to go from both sides, but the burl was nowhere near as large as this monster in question. From memory it was about 1500mm (bigger than the pallet we sat it on.) Burl wood tends not to have any real tensile strength (lack of significant grain) and consequently are often cut quite thick. 100mm is common as the last thing you want is for the disc to break in half. However, a disc 100mm thick and 2.5m in diameter is going to need a fork lift to move it around. Depending on the species and whether it is solid it could weigh between 300Kg and 500Kg!

Regards
Paul

Here's the link to the Jarrah burl table that I referred to above Jarrah Burl Dining Table (woodworkforums.com)

Welcome to the forum.

Originally Posted by cava

Not close to you, however the bandsaw that Greg and Mal Ward (Boutique Timber’s) have near Port Macquarie NSW may be able to handle it.

Thanks for that, I contacted them, but the usual thing...the burl is too big for their gear.

I'm looking forward to seeing these "mates " who are going to be fit enough to handle a three metre plus two man crosscut saw when she gets into the centre of that match stick. Thats if they ever get to the centre.

Hi there,

Our Lucas Super Slabber will cut 2.7m wide. We have been known to mill the odd large twig.
Located in Rochester, Victoria, have all the required gear.
PM me if you're interested.

Cheers,

James.

Welcome to the forum