Below is an array of platter shapes created from various species of wood. Platters offer the woodturner an opportunity to create a practical surface that also showcases the beauty across a single cut through a tree. In some of the platters, the flat surface also offers a broad palette of color and grain patterns, providing a vista akin to a landscape.
Several of the platters below have large diameters. I do not laminate pieces to create such large surfaces. Rather I create these platters from trees with a trunk diameter typically one and a half times or more the size of the finished platter.
Platters made from wood that has not yet dried (from "green" wood) will generally, upon drying, end up with unique "wonky" deviations from round and flat, as Nature has a hand in the process. Such a platter is shown in the first photograph below.
Click on the images to see them in detail (including species of wood and dimensions of the piece).
Pine Platter - Diameter: 10 inches, Height: 3/4 inch (G1)
Maple Platter - Diameter: 14 1/4 inches, Height: 1 1/2 inches (L1)
Elm Platter - Diameter: 11 13/16 inches, Height: 1 1/8 inches (C39)
Elm Platter - Diameter: 10 1/8 inches, Height: 3/4 inches (C44)
Willow Platter - Diameter: 9 3/8 inches, Height: 1 1/8 inches (C70)
Maple Platter - Diameter: 9 5/8 inches, Height: 3/4 inch (G26)
Maple Platter - Diameter: 10 3/4 inches, Height: Varies from 3/4 to 1 1/4 inches (G28)
Plum Platter - Diameter: 10 3/4 inches, Height: 1 1/8 inches (F23)
Maple Platter - Diameter: 13 5/8 inches, Height: 1 1/2 inches (F29)
Maple Platter - Diameter: 11 1/8 inches, Height: 1 inch (D21)
Ficus Platter - Diameter: 14 1/8 inches, Height: 1 7/8 inches (C83)
Madrone Platter (Warped) - Diameter: 9 1/2 inches, Height: 1 1/4 inches (C93)
Maple Platter - Diameter: 10 1/2 inches, Height: 1 5/16 inches (D37)
Length: 16 inches, Width: 8 9/16 inches, Height: 1 3/8 inches (K59)
Pine Platter - Diameter: 13 1/4 inches, Height: 1 5/8 inches (G65)
Pine Platter - Diameter: 9 5/8 inches, Height: 1 1/4 inches (G68)
Pine Platter - Diameter: 15 3/4 inches, Height: 2 inches (G81)
Madrone Platter (Warped) - Diameter: 10 3/4 inches, Height: 1 5/8 inches (C137)
Black Locust Platter - Length: 8 3/8 inches, Width: 7 1/8 inches, Height: 1 3/8 inches (K63)
Maple Platter - Diameter: 7 3/4 inches, Height: 1 1/8 inches (D40)
Hazel Square Platter - Length: 7 3/8 Inches, Width: 3 1/4 inches, Height: 7/8 inches (D88)
Diameter: 11 3/4 inches, Height: 1 3/8 inches (D133)
Maple Platter - Diameter: 14 5/8 inches, Height: 1 1/4 inches (D132)
