Falling in Love w/ a Piece of Burl!

[DavidCBaker]

Look what just came today, all crated up nicely in a 100-lb package. This is Big Leave Maple burl. The largest rectangular piece I could get from it is 24 x 32", along with all kinds of smaller pieces, but I'll probably carve it up into two or three largest pieces I can muster after some thinking. Can't wait to make something out of this. Usually I come up with a project idea...and then find the wood. Other times I find the wood...and let that dictate what I want to make.

I put the hammer in there so that you'd get a feel for the scale of the thing.

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[Runhard]

Wow, that is an amazing piece of wood!

I hope that you share pictures of what you end up creating with it.

 

[Oldwood]

That is beauty!! I would need to think a long time before i could cut that [eek]

Keep us posted on what you come up with.

Gerry

 

[DavidCBaker]

I know. I'm already trembling a little. I'm glad it's too wide for my planer. That makes me think long and hard about what I want to do.

 

[HarveyWildes]

It looks like it would make a lot of nice pen blanks!

Seriously, it looks awesome  If it were mine, I'd almost be afraid to cut it.

 

[Sparktrician]

That would make a really interesting coffee table with a glass top.  [smile]

 

[DavidCBaker]

That would make a really interesting coffee table with a glass top.  [smile]

That's a good idea. Untrimmed, with a big piece of glass covering it at it's current shape?

 

[Sparktrician]

That would make a really interesting coffee table with a glass top.  [smile]

That's a good idea. Untrimmed, with a big piece of glass covering it at it's current shape?

Yup.  Sand the flat surfaces smooth as a baby's butt and get a piece of glass cut round just enough to cover the burl plus 6" or so.  You could even use a router sled to get the top and bottom surfaces dead flat before sanding them and applying a complementary stain and/or varnish.  Make an attractive set of legs or get a welder to make some iron legs.  You get the picture. 

 

[DavidCBaker]

Any suggestions on a router sled? The Festool one (495648) seems to get mixed reviews.

 

[Sparktrician]

Any suggestions on a router sled? The Festool one (495648) seems to get mixed reviews.

Make your own.  There's a back issue of Fine Woodworking that shows Nick Offerman's router sled.  I made mine based on his and specifically to fit my OF 2200.  Check it out here. 

 

[Z48LT1]

How thick is it?  How long since it was sliced?  I'm naive about handling such slabs but intuitively I'd be worried about cracks.  Are any precautions against such natural hazards appropriate?

Cheers - Gary

 

[DavidCBaker]

How thick is it?  How long since it was sliced?  I'm naive about handling such slabs but intuitively I'd be worried about cracks.  Are any precautions against such natural hazards appropriate?

Cheers - Gary

It's ¾" thick. Not sure how old--probably been drying for years, I'd guess. It does strike me as fairly easily crackable.

 

[McNally Family]

How thick is it?  How long since it was sliced?  I'm naive about handling such slabs but intuitively I'd be worried about cracks.  Are any precautions against such natural hazards appropriate?

Cheers - Gary

It's ¾" thick. Not sure how old--probably been drying for years, I'd guess. It does strike me as fairly easily crackable.

I could be way off base here, due to lack of experience in such things,  but could you not somehow fill the existing splits and cracks with some sort of resin, before working the wood surface, to help prevent further splitting/cracking?

 

[Sparktrician]

It's ¾" thick. Not sure how old--probably been drying for years, I'd guess. It does strike me as fairly easily crackable.

Uh-oh.  That's going to be very fragile.  You might want to consider making a wall-hanging setup for it with a piece of 6mm plywood epoxied to it to be a strengthening backer.  Given that it's cross-grain, the coffee table idea might be out due to the stresses. 

 

[Cheese]

Uh-oh.  That's going to be very fragile.  You might want to consider making a wall-hanging setup for it with a piece of 6mm plywood epoxied to it to be a strengthening backer.  Given that it's cross-grain, the coffee table idea might be out due to the stresses.

I just ran across the same issue, I had to fill in some walnut with West epoxy to keep the various edges from breaking off.  [sad]

 

[DavidCBaker]

It's ¾" thick. Not sure how old--probably been drying for years, I'd guess. It does strike me as fairly easily crackable.

Uh-oh.  That's going to be very fragile.  You might want to consider making a wall-hanging setup for it with a piece of 6mm plywood epoxied to it to be a strengthening backer.  Given that it's cross-grain, the coffee table idea might be out due to the stresses.

Yes. I'm also regretfully considering smaller pieces for box tops.