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

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


I used the burl as an excuse to buy a 100mm jaw set and 100mm faceplate ring for my SuperNova2.


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


Removed all the bark to expose the raw burl beneath


Even with the bark off it is only JUST clearing the bed. Remember the DVR3000 has a 16" swing


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.


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


One pic of the finished piece


Another pic of the finished piece


Time to go have that beer I reckon.