The amount of material which has to be removed usually precludes the use of abrasives alone.   Planing is possible, but whether this is undertaken with hand or machine tools, it is difficult to control tear-out when the very beauty of the wood lies in the infinite variation in grain direction.

No matter what methods are adopted, the use of planes and/or abrasives is often tedious and slow, and the end result is frequently a lot less than ideal.  If light is shone along a finished surface, like as not it will be seen to contain numerous hills and valleys.  This may be good enough for some, but for the professional, or for anyone who must undertake the task regularly, it can mean the very worst combination - high cost and poor quality.

It is generally accepted that the best method of cutting the twisted grain of a burl is to use a rotary cutter such as an appropriate router bit.  But arranging the router so that it can traverse the entire surface of a large slab or burl, has to date been the stumbling block.

It was for precisely this purpose that the all new Wood Wizz was designed, though it can do a lot more than machine burls. It also has the flexibility of being able to surface everything from small articles such as clock faces, to large slabs, counter tops and table tops. It then finishes off the job pieces by sanding to a perfect finish in an almost dust free environment.

The Wood Wizz is an Australian invention.  It was first shown at the Melbourne Timber & Working with Wood Show in October 1998. 

The machine, which is protected by Design Registration and International Patents, is essentially an Overhead Radial Arm Routing System which consists of a vertical stand that supports an articulated arm. A router is fitted into a travelling carrier, and this can be positioned at any point in the horizontal plane which is within the limits of the arm's travel.

The workpiece is set up on a sliding bench beneath the radius arm. This allows the job piece to be moved, which brings the extreme outside corners of larger slabs and counter tops into the reach of the cutters and gives the machine the capability of surfacing very large slabs - eg  1200 x 2400 (4ft x 8ft), 900 x 3000 (3ft x 10ft) and longer if required. Burls to about 1350 x 2400 (4ft 6in x 8ft) can be handled.

The cutters are lowered to remove the highest points first, and then lowered progressively, removing about 3mm of material with each pass. The cutters are specially designed for the machine and have replaceable tungsten tips. These inserts can be rotated by 90 degrees four times. They can also be easily sharpened with a diamond file, thus eliminating down time and damage to the job piece from blunt cutters.  

Although the surfacing of burls was the prime motivation for the development of the Wood Wizz, it has come a long way since its first release. It is now an integral part of many workshops, and successful businesses have been built around them.

The savings in time are often substantial.  Les Owen, the Inventor of the machine, says that the experience of his customers is that jobs which would have taken hours, perhaps days, to complete, can now be done, literally, in minutes - and the accuracy which can be achieved is far higher than that which is possible using conventional methods.

For example, one manufacturer has increased the output of tabletops from three a week to three a day, at the same time substantially improving the quality of the finished work.

Another, which specialises in Red Gum burl furniture, has installed a Wood Wizz (of commercial size) and can now set up, machine and quick sand both sides of a 1400mm diameter burl in around 20 to 30 minutes.