Cutting a burl into Knife Handle Blocks - Step by Step

Burl Source

Burl Source

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Dec 7, 2008
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I have been asked quite a few times how a burl should be cut to yield the best knife handle blocks. I figured it would be easiest just to show how I do it. Different types of burls need to be cut differently from each other. I will start with a type of burl that is a big time PITA. Later posts will show how to cut others.

When you cut up a burl, you can cut for the maximum yield or for the best looking figure. My thinking is "I would rather have 10 super nice blocks than 20 mediocre ones".

These following posts will show how I do it. Some of you will think I am a retard because how much I waste. You are all welcome to post your comments and opinions.
 
First a little info about Buckeye.

The buckeye we use is a type of wild chestnut that grows in Southern Oregon through Central California. Wild chestnut grows in other areas but the ones in CA and OR seem to form the best burls and get the sought after blue coloring. Buckeye burls will normally form underground like a distorted bumpy onion. When the burl is fresh cut it is usually gold colored wood. The blue comes later.

If you harvest, mill and kiln dry a buckeye burl there will be little or no blue coloring. The burls has to be allowed to season and "Color Up" usually for a year or more before you cut it up. The blue color is caused by a bacteria that likes buckeye. Similar to spalting but does not break down the structure of the wood. The blue coloring will grow and spread as long as the wood is not totally dry and is kept shaded.

This photo is of a quarter piece of buckeye that I put away in a dark shipping container for the last year or so.

be001.jpg


Looking at the outside you see only a hint of the coloring inside. That is because the outside is dryer than the inside which is still a little damp.
 
First thing I do is look at all the sides of the burl to decide where to make my first cut. You will usually get some of the best figure with cuts made parallel to the outer surface of the burl. With that in mind I wanted to cut the burl into 2 manageable sized pieces.

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b002.jpg


After that I looked at the 2 pieces to see which cut face showed the best figure.

b003.jpg

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Next with the bandsaw I cut a slice a little thicker than a handle block off the face with the best figure.
This shows the 2 big pieces with a slice cut off of them.

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You have probably noticed there are a lot of voids.
For buckeye, this is a very solid piece. Usually there will be a whole lot more voids. Some of the voids will be bark pockets while others will have dirt or rocks inside. Because of that Buckeye burl is tough on bandsaw blades and will have a lot of waste.

Next I take the 2 slabs I cut off of these pieces. You could just cut these into strips but I prefer to look at them and decide how to cut them next for the best looking handle blocks. With a pen I made marks for my next cuts.

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I cut along those guidelines to make the strips that I would later trim into blocks.

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After that I trimmed the strips into what I felt were the best blocks.

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It's kind of hard to see in the photo but these blocks will all have very 3 dimensional bubbly figure when they are sanded and finished.

Less than 1/2 of the wood from this burl was suitable for knife handles but I still got some really nice blocks.
be002.jpg

Now time to start sanding.

Buckeye is one of the faster drying woods. These blocks should be ready to use in just a month or so if stored indoors in a heated area. If you want them to get even darker blue, then you would put them in a dark unheated place and the blue will usually get even darker. Myself, I like the contrasting colors these blocks show right now.
 
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That's really cool! I've wondered how buckeye got the blue and I wondered how you got the most out of a burl knowing there are so many voids you can't see...

Thanks Burl Source!
 
Every couple weeks I get a call from someone who tells me they have buckeye that they wax sealed and it never turned blue. Or that they had some milled and kiln dried and it never colored up. No air or quick drying will kill the blue bacteria. On rare occasions buckeye will get pink or purple colors along with the blue but my boss keeps that stuff for himself.

Next week I will be cutting a maple burl. Much easier than buckeye.
 
Wonderful tutorial, Mark. I have never seen a burl laid out like a road-map.

I have a burl to process your post here will help me get the best cuts out of it.

Fred
 
Fred.Rowe said:
Wonderful tutorial, Mark. I have never seen a burl laid out like a road-map.

I have a burl to process your post here will help me get the best cuts out of it.

Fred
Click to expand...

Thanks for the kind words. I just picked out a big maple burl cap that I will cut and photo in a couple days. How you cut that can give a lot of different looks.

m001.jpg
 
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Very interesting.

How common are buckeyes over in the US? In the uk they are real common and called horse chestnuts or 'conker trees' because of the nuts that we call 'conkers'. In the autumn its traditional to collect the nuts and play 'conkers' where you tie bits of string though the nuts then in pairs you take turns in smashing each others conkers to bits. Whoever breaks the others conker off the string wins. Some people cheat and pimp thier conkers by soaking them in vinegar or superglue, I had one stabilised that was a champion conker.

Jamie
 
Mark, this might be a stupid question but what kind of a difference in burl will you see if its part of the root ball or above ground? Are there some burls that aren't worth wasting your time with? A friend lives here in OR (OR/WA border) and the forest service just cleared a couple acres next to their house and left a lot of root balls with burl but it's mainly doug fir and other typical northern cascade timber... Anyway, I've seen pics of huge blisters hanging off trees but I also hear people talk about the root ball burls and I was curious as to the difference in use/pattern/color/density/etc...

Thanks again, Mark!
 
Around the WA/OR border you will get burl forming mostly with the maple and madrone. Both can form burls at the root level. Sometimes like a giant onion. Either of these are worth harvesting. Maple the easier to dry intact. Madrone can look nice but you sure lose a lot as it cracks up when drying. Fir can form burls but they tend to be pitchy and not nearly as dramatic. A general rule of thumb; if it looks cool, keep it and cut it up to see what's inside. The worst thing that can happen is you have some extra firewood. With both trees the above ground burls will have tighter figure as well as less in the way of voids and bark pockets. The maple burl photo shown is an above ground burl cap that grew on the side of a tree trunk.

With almost all burls the above ground ones are easier to cut up and have more usable material but they are always much smaller than the underground burls. Around here people are able to get a permit from the forestry department to harvest above ground burls. They are sliced off the trunk much like if you were cutting off a limb. This way the tree is not killed.
 
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