I bought this burl on ebay. I won the auction for $100 and delivery bumped it to $121. I got a little history on the piece of wood from the seller:
"It is Western Big Leaf Maple. This tree was removed from a hillside in the Trask River Valley just east of Tillamook, Oregon. The Butt cut of the tree was 6 feet in diameter and 10 feet long with this type of burl all around and through this first cut. The burl penetration was just over 2 feet thick on all sides. The tree was declining in health so the land owner made the decision to have it cut while there was still good usable wood in it. This white wood was only about 8" thick and the rest of it was very dark red heart wood with the same burl and curl."
The burl in it's raw form is behind the myrtle bowl I had just finished turning when I took this picture: The circle drawn on the maple bowl is about 11" in diameter and it is about 2 3/4" thick. The finished product (bottom of page) is 10" in diameter and 2 1/2" thick.
myrtlebowl1.jpg
I cut the round and maximized it to the biggest dimension I could on one side, which will be the top. On the underside of the round, there was still some of the irregular pattern still showing that is directly under the bark. I turned it down to leave just one spot that showed 'live edge' without bark (the wood was too dry and the bark came off easily). The live edge indentation is maximum depth of 3/8", so I turned it to make the bowl a little thicker. The live edge is solid, no cracks, and has a little coloration (grey/white areas). I plan on plugging the chuck hole after I am finished. I like to make a little raised edge rim on the underside, so it sits on that ring. That minimizes scratches on the underside, and it also guarantees that the bottom is perfectly flat with no wobble.
alright....enough of that. This is with one coat of Minwax Tung finish on it, polished to 2000 grit.
Still on the lathe, but the outside is turned, showing the void of the live edge.
mapleburlbowl1.jpg
The finished product. Second photo shows the live edge as the bowl sits flat.
mapleburlbowl2.jpg mapleburlbowl3.jpg
David A. Peterson (I go by 'Dave', but that name was already taken by someone else)
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