Burls

[William Schrade]

A friend of mine is in the tree cutting business. He saved a Cherry Burl for me which I'm going to send out to be cut and stabilized. He also saved a crotch which he thinks there would be some interesting grains. Do you think there is any value to a crotch as there is burls?

No crotch jokes.

 

[Ninja Blacksmith]

Good question, William; I'll be keeping an eye on this thread to see what any material dealers have to say. I've *heard* that walnut crotch is prized for feather-like curl figure at its core, but I don't know enough to start comparing crotch woods and/or burl.

 

[i4Marc]

No crotch jokes?

 

[Mahoney]

Is the crotch also cherry? Yes crotch lumber has value (gun stocks, guitars, high end veneer) but it has to be properly cut and dried. How much value compared to burl...kinda apple/orange...depends on the quality of the burl and the figure in the crotch.

 

[smokey0118]

this may help.
http://www.woodmagazine.com/materials-guide/lumber/wood-figure/crotch/

 

[Britt_Askew]

After you cut the burl you will need to let it dry before having it stabilized.
personally I like crotch better than burl . You want to slice the crotch so you have boards that looks like a Y when finished

 

[bronyblacksmith]

crotch wood looks very nice it has a feather like look to it. I love the look with feather damascus.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

As said, crotch figure can be nice. The trick on burls and crotches is to slowly dry them for a long time........years normally.

Seal the ends and set in a cool sheltered place and forget them until Christmas 2016. Them cut them up into slabs and let cure for six months to a year. Then check for moisture content and cut smaller to have stabilized.