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by abeppu 564 days ago
So the works Cindy displays are beautiful but is wood turning the way to "make the most of your burl"? I feel like there's a value that's related the surface area you can get out of a given burl. If you have a burl, are you better off trying to cut thin panels with parallel slices? With turning, though a skilled artisan can produce a beautiful result, don't you lose out on a lot of volume?
1 comments

It is really really difficult to make any thing from a burl that is within the range of a hobbyist that isn’t turned. The grain is impossible, and they are really hard so working it with normal tools (a hand plane or a spoke shave) is just going to tear out as the direction of grain changes. I’ve never seen a veneer cutter that could handle a burl that was within hobbyist reach, but a lathe is going to cost you under 1000$ and probably under 500$ if you get a used one with good capacity.