Goldfield Burl bowl

[Curt Fuller]

I bought this burl from Macbeath's Hardwoods in SLC and it was in a box labeled "Goldfield Burls". I know it's one of the exotic Australian burl woods but I don't know which one. It's about 11" diameter and 3" tall. It's the first one of these burls I've ever gotten to turn. I wanted to keep as much of the outer burl untouched as I could so I turned a shallow recess into the bottom and made a base from rosewood. The rest of the bottom is all natural. On the top I figured if I tried to turn it flat I would lose some of the burl features that stuck out from the sides so I turned the bowl in the center and then just sanded the outside areas to the contour of how the blank had been cut and dried. That why the top is sort of wavey.
Top, side, and bottom view.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Curt...........That is stunning and Joash will wonder how it got here! I like the design idea you used!

What finish did you use?

Very well done!

[Shane Whitlock]

Schweeet!!! ... Love the piece Curt. Beautiful wild grain and great idea for the foot. Ya gotta bring this to the next turners meeting so I can hold it :D

[Jonathon Spafford]

Awesome bit of wood, Matey!!! ;) Them Aussies have there pick of some nice wood over there! And you did a great job turning this piece... it is really cool!

[Greg Savage]

Curt....It looks like it could be Corrugata. There is a chance that it could be York Gum or Brown Mallee. Sometimes it is difficult to tell the difference between these 3 Goldfield burls. The term "goldfirld burl" refers to many different burls that are gathered in the gold producing regions of Western Australia. All of these burls are very hard and dense and quite beautiful. There are several dozen burls which are refered to as "Goldfield Burls" It is really just a blanket term.

If you don't mind me asking, what did MacBeth charge you for the burl? The reason I'm asking is that recently, I began importing burl from Australia and will have a website up in a week or so, specializing in Aussie burl with the the turner in mind....Blocks and large slabs.

[Glenn Hodges]

Lord have mercy, that is beautiful!

[Keith Burns]

I love it Curt, great job !!!!:) :)

[Jeff Moffett]

That's a real beauty, Curt. I love everything about it. Great job!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Curt that is beautiful. I really like the form. Nice job.

[Mike Vickery]

beautiful piece. I have thought about doing something like this with no outside turning but could not think of a good way to do the foot. I like the way you came up with quite a bit. I see a steal in the future.

[Dennis Peacock]

Most excellent Curt!!!! I like that burl!!!!!! :D

[Neal Addy]

Hat's off to ya, Curt! Beautiful turning and a nice hunk of wood.

:cool:

[Mark Pruitt]

Dazzling!!!

[Ron Raymond]

If you don't mind me asking, what did MacBeth charge you for the burl? The reason I'm asking is that recently, I began importing burl from Australia and will have a website up in a week or so, specializing in Aussie burl with the the turner in mind....Blocks and large slabs.

Hey Greg...I'm not Curt but I'm sure I have the correct answer to your question. He paid $1.98 for the burl and you should probably price all of yours the same. Oh, and put me at the top of the list to buy!!!:D:D:D Seriously, I look forward to seeing your offerings.

Curt, that is a fantastic piece of work you did!

[Steve Schlumpf]

Beautiful bowl Curt!! I really like the way your design keeps the majority of the burl intact and highlights the top bowl area. Very nice work - great looking finish!

[Bob Hallowell]

Curt very nice! I love the form

Greg, West penn hardwood where I get most of my exotic stock sells it for $5 a pound.

Bob

[Tom Sherman]

Curt that sure is a pretty piece of burl ya did good

[Kaptan J.W. Meek]

Fantastic.. Great form and a wonderful display of a great piece of wood..

[Joe Tonich]

Great idea on making a foot for it, you mind if I steal it sometime? That is an awesome burl bowl!!

[Curt Fuller]

Great idea on making a foot for it, you mind if I steal it sometime? That is an awesome burl bowl!!

Steal away, Brother! But you won't be stealing from me because I stole it from someone myself. I just can't remember where I saw it.

Thanks everybody for all the comments.

Greg, as for the cost of the burl, it was 5 bucks a pound, and about as dry and hard as it could possibly be. I thought it was a pretty fair price considering someone in Australia had to cut it off the tree, haul it by kangaroo packtrain and ship it to the USA, then it had to make it's way to MacBeath's and everyone along the way got a little cut of the action. I would have bought more but this was the only one that I could have turned on my 14" lathe. There were some in the 24-30" range if you had a nice big PM, Oneway, or one of the other monster machines and a healthy limit on the old Visa card.

Ken, the bottom just has deft lacquer, the top has some danish oil with deft over that.

[Joash Boyton]

Curt...........That is stunning and Joash will wonder how it got here!

Well I must say this looked.....pretty good:p

It's Gorgeous, great work!

Joash

[Jonathon Spafford]

I thought it was a pretty fair price considering someone in Australia had to cut it off the tree, haul it by kangaroo packtrain and ship it to the USA, then it had to make it's way to MacBeath's and everyone along the way got a little cut of the action.

Man, you could've got it there so much faster if you'd just gotten John Hart and his horsey onto the job!!!!!

[Jonathon Spafford]

Wow... nice timing, Joash! ;)

[Greg Savage]

Curt and everyone who tipped me off as to the pricing....I didn't want to hijack the thread, but figured it would have been a good place to ask. I just brought in several large crates about the size of a mini-van and the cap burls are very difficult to price. As a buyer, I am paying for "harvest weight" in kilograms and by the time it gets to the US, the cap burl may have lost 30% of its weight due to water loss. So, I hope everyone can see my need for asking. I'll start a thread soon tipping everyone off to an upcoming website. Meanwhile, I have a significant stock of Jarrah, White Top, Red Gum and Coolibah. PM or email if interested in anything tdog@nauticom.net

Beautiful bowl Curt and thanks for being so gracious as to my intrusion. And I'll give a 20% discount to all deserving "Creekers" on my present stock.

[Mike Ramsey]

That is a georgeous piece of wood!!

[Pete Jordan]

I really really like this piece! Your work continues to amaze!