Manzanita Wooden Platter is 11 inch diameter by 1 1/2 inches thick. Wood doesn’t get much prettier than this. Manzanita wood is not easy to fabricate, but always delivers when complete.  The organic nature of Manzanita pieces are second to none.  Manzanita root burl is perhaps the most beautiful wood I work with. The Burl is very ugly in its raw form. I have a theory that the uglier the wood the more beautiful will be the interior grain resulting in a final piece with very interesting features.
This Burl is most difficult to fabricate as it contains rocks, sand, dirt which will quickly dull tools. It becomes a battle to tame Manzanita, but the final result as you see with this Manzanita Wooden Platter is well worth it. As I struggle with each piece I swear I will not use this wood again. But when complete I see the beauty of the wood. There is no doubt that I will continue to work with this wood.
Manzanita is a protected species as it should be. There is a limited supply of this material therefore it is expensive and highly sought after. For me, there is no other species that yields such beautiful turned pieces.
The Manzanita Wooden Platter features the common challenges working with Manzanita. There are bark inclusions and voids. Surface rocks and dirt will quickly damage sharp tools which require frequent sharpening. The voids create dangerous situations allowing pieces to break off and shoot across the studio during the turning process.
Here is another example of another style Manzanita piece with different features Manzanita Sphere
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