Once In a Lifetime Find

[Jmhoff10500]

I picked this up off a guy i work with and am stuck on what to do with it... It is the root part of a buckeye burl tree and what i would have given for the rest of the tree... It has alot of character including rocks grown into it... So far i have thought about a coffee table, cutting it up for blanks/WW wood, or just throwing it in the back for firewood (just kidding):biggrin:

You guys have any ideas?

 

[Padre]

I think that's big enough for a table, some nice turning blanks and a few bowls/boxes.

Nice find!

 

[aggromere]

That looks really cool. It has such an interesting shape for something big, i dont think i would cut it into blanks.

 

[JerrySambrook]

I have seen a few and have made one.
Try flattening the sawn area, and use that for the base.
Power wash the root system to clean off the dirt, but not hard enough to remove the rocks.
Tip up, and then trim the root system so you have three or more roots on the same level, as the highest points
Then either use a piece of bullnose plate glass or another piece of wood as the top.
I will try to get a pic or two of the one I did

 

[Jmhoff10500]

OOH! i never thought about glass! I was thinking about buying some foot round burl slabs and making like a 3 tier tv stand or something like that cause there are so many potential flat places to put them...

I have seen a few and have made one.
Try flattening the sawn area, and use that for the base.
Power wash the root system to clean off the dirt, but not hard enough to remove the rocks.
Tip up, and then trim the root system so you have three or more roots on the same level, as the highest points
Then either use a piece of bullnose plate glass or another piece of wood as the top.
I will try to get a pic or two of the one I did

 

[Smitty37]

Lawn Ornament

My wife would make just one heck of an eyecatching lawn ornament out of that....

 

[65GTMustang]

That is AWESOME!
If it were me, I would use it for a table base.
I have made several Burled Red Wood tables - Having large slabs for the top and sections from the root as the base.
I agree that the piece would need to be carefully pressure washed - and perhaps even needing some hand cleaning with a stiff wire brush after it dries out.
Depending on the size and how you are going to use it – you could level off three smaller areas at different heights and make it a layered step style coffee table or side chair table?
I use Amber Shellac from Bulls eye for the finish on my slab tables - I generally build up 10 to 12 coats. It brings out a lot of the little features and details along with giving it a serious protective shell.
Another thought would be to divide it into sections to use as a base for a turning such as a hollow vessel, bowl, or general artistic piece.
I have seen some amazing pieces where roots like this make amazing pieces of art.
I would suggest looking through the photo gallery from this year's wood turning symposium held in Connecticut. Not so much to copy a piece you find but to get the inspiration from looking at all incredible pieces that were displayed this year. Google 2010 wood turning symposium and you should find the link easily.
I would love to hear or see you're "After" pictures once you decide on how to use it.