Cutting, Sealing, and Drying Red Oak Burl

[Tbone07]

Hello everybody,

I cut a large 3-4ft in diameter red oak burl off of a tree at my late grandfather's tree farm in North Central Ohio. It was 30-40ft above the ground on the side of the trunk and almost perfectly round. It looks like it was getting rotten on the one side, so I decided to cut the tree down before it went to waste. I'm glad I cut it down when I did, because carpenter ants were going to town on the softer, rotten wood on the inside.

I had the burl cut up by a local Amish logging operation, as I did not have the cutting tools or knowledge necessary. I didn't want to risk ruining it by cutting it improperly, as I have never cut up a burl.

My question is.....how do I go about sealing and drying the pieces so it doesn't warp and/or crack and become useless? I have heard to use parafin wax or anchor-seal on all bare surfaces and to let it sit for 1 year per inch. The thinnest slices in the pictures are 1.5-2'' thick, and the others are 4-5'' thick. The thicker slices have some damage to inner portion, but there's some good chunks on the outside rim that are salvageable. Should I cut those good sections away from damage, and seal them separately?

My plan is to make knife handles, Colt 1911 gun grips, a bowl or two, and some other odds and ends

Thanks for any advice you could give. Please checkout the pictures I attached.



^^^This is the slice closest to the trunk, and the rotten/damaged part I could see from the ground. Carpenter ants did a number on it



^^^Here's the next slice at 4-5'' thick. Some rotten spots but there are large solid chunks that I can cut out of it



^^^A nice 1.5'' slice with no soft spots or damage. I have 3 more of these slices that are perfect. They're still wet and slimy



^^^Two 1.5'' standing on end, rest of the pieces stacked up.

Thanks!

 

[Burl Source]

If it were me, here is what I would do.
There are probably still bugs in the wood and you don't want them to continue eating the wood.
Ortho has a spray called home defense that works good on most wood bugs. You can get it at a local hardware store or walmart.
I would spray both sides of the wood liberally.
I wouldn't seal the wood but that is up to you. Anchorseal is probably the best for green wood but you have to buy it in 5 gallon containers.

For drying I would use 3 or 4, 1x2s as stickers between slabs. Make sure they line up with each other on each level.
This allows air to flow between the slabs so it can dry.

Then using straps like you use to hold stuff in a truck I would strap and tighten the hole stack to help prevent the wood from being able to warp.
This won't prevent all warpage but it limits the ability for the wood to move.

Then make sure the stack is kept out of direct sunlight and rain.
After a couple years it should be close to dry.

I would save a couple of the solid pieces for small tabletops.

 

[J. Hoffman]

You can get Anchorseal in quarts and gallons at Woodcraft

 

[Randydb]

I've been drying wood for about 4 years now with varying success. Had a lot of maple and butternut turn out very well....had some beautiful apple and cherry turn to warped shattered firewood. Some people who post on woodworking forums I belong to just use whatever paint they have around to seal the ends. That's what I do because I am cheap. Some wood I haven't bothered to seal the ends on too and that has turned out well too. After that I basically do what Greenberg does with stickers between the pieces.

Some pieces seem to dry quicker than others. I have this moisture meter https://www.ryobitools.com/products/details/phone-works-moisture-meter (about $30). It works quite well and was within about .6% when I tested it against a very expensive meter on wood. Close enough for me to know when I am in the ballpark of where I want my wood to be.

 

[Tbone07]

If it were me, here is what I would do.
There are probably still bugs in the wood and you don't want them to continue eating the wood.
Ortho has a spray called home defense that works good on most wood bugs. You can get it at a local hardware store or walmart.
I would spray both sides of the wood liberally.
I wouldn't seal the wood but that is up to you. Anchorseal is probably the best for green wood but you have to buy it in 5 gallon containers.

For drying I would use 3 or 4, 1x2s as stickers between slabs. Make sure they line up with each other on each level.
This allows air to flow between the slabs so it can dry.

Then using straps like you use to hold stuff in a truck I would strap and tighten the hole stack to help prevent the wood from being able to warp.
This won't prevent all warpage but it limits the ability for the wood to move.

Then make sure the stack is kept out of direct sunlight and rain.
After a couple years it should be close to dry.

I would save a couple of the solid pieces for small tabletops.

I have plenty of the Ortho home defense spray at home. I'll be sure to spray the pieces down. I'll cut out the way rotten stuff on my band saw too, and save the good chunks. I have spot out of the sun and rain in a 60 degree shop that will be perfect, I'll make up some stickers and stack and strap down as you suggested.

I'm interested to hear why you wouldn't seal up the slices though. Everything I've read says to use parafin wax or anchorseal so it doesn't dry out too quick and split. Should I not be concerned about that in this case?

Thanks for your advice Mark I appreciate it.

Some people who post on woodworking forums I belong to just use whatever paint they have around to seal the ends. That's what I do because I am cheap. Some wood I haven't bothered to seal the ends on too and that has turned out well too. After that I basically do what Greenberg does with stickers between the pieces.

I've got plenty of stickers so I'm good there.

Sealing up the "ends" in my situation is a little different, do you mean the entire exposed wood surface on the large circular slices?


---Thanks for all the help gentleman. This is a sentimental piece for me as it's off my Grandpas tree farm and he's no longer with us. I hope it turns out alright

 

[CWendling]

If it were me, here is what I would do.
There are probably still bugs in the wood and you don't want them to continue eating the wood.
Ortho has a spray called home defense that works good on most wood bugs. You can get it at a local hardware store or walmart.
I would spray both sides of the wood liberally.
I wouldn't seal the wood but that is up to you. Anchorseal is probably the best for green wood but you have to buy it in 5 gallon containers.

For drying I would use 3 or 4, 1x2s as stickers between slabs. Make sure they line up with each other on each level.
This allows air to flow between the slabs so it can dry.

Then using straps like you use to hold stuff in a truck I would strap and tighten the hole stack to help prevent the wood from being able to warp.
This won't prevent all warpage but it limits the ability for the wood to move.

Then make sure the stack is kept out of direct sunlight and rain.
After a couple years it should be close to dry.

I would save a couple of the solid pieces for small tabletops.

You can buy 1gal of anchorseal at the woodcrafters here in Dallas. Its what I use for green wood

 

[Randydb]

I have plenty of the Ortho home defense spray at home. I'll be sure to spray the pieces down. I'll cut out the way rotten stuff on my band saw too, and save the good chunks. I have spot out of the sun and rain in a 60 degree shop that will be perfect, I'll make up some stickers and stack and strap down as you suggested.

I'm interested to hear why you wouldn't seal up the slices though. Everything I've read says to use parafin wax or anchorseal so it doesn't dry out too quick and split. Should I not be concerned about that in this case?

Thanks for your advice Mark I appreciate it.



I've got plenty of stickers so I'm good there.

Sealing up the "ends" in my situation is a little different, do you mean the entire exposed wood surface on the large circular slices?


---Thanks for all the help gentleman. This is a sentimental piece for me as it's off my Grandpas tree farm and he's no longer with us. I hope it turns out alright

Yes, you have "cookies" cut. I just know that when you seal it...whether with wax, anchorseal or paint that it slows the drying process down and makes it dry more evenly. That way you don't get one area shrinking faster than another which causes checking. So when I cut a board I only paint the end grain ends. Not sure what you should do with these cookie cuts. We have two giant burl tables (6feet across) at our cabin that don't have any checks in them. I remember my uncle levelling and finishing them when I was a kid and there wasn't any sealant on them when he started.

 

[Tbone07]

Thank you gentleman for all your help. I'll stick these and post some picture updates