Freshly cut maple burl

[noah101]

Finally got around to sawing this chunk up... by hand!! Im so excited because I have trees full of this stuff!!! Its beautiful!!! And Im guessing I cut it right... kinda slab it from the front right? Now one more question... How long and how do I dry it... any fast way? Thanks for looking

 

[David Loukides]

Noah,
The faster it dries the more prone to checking.
A cool dry basement is good.
I cut my pieces over size wait a year or more than cut to my block size. around 8% moister content.
You can use super glue in the checks to try to stop them.
I have some Australian burls that are over 2yrs old that will get used this summer.

PS, Let it dry or risk a cracked handle later!!!!

 

[godogs57]

I have always gone by the rule of thumb, a year for each inch of thickness. And Dave is 110% right...let it dry slowly.

 

[tryppyr]

By the way, don't throw away the small bits you cut off. They are absolutely GORGEOUS bits. Now that I'm doing stacked handles, the small pieces are very interesting to me... especially the small gorgeous pieces. I had a similar chunk of the endge bits, and now that I need smaller bits, I'm going to get that stuff stabilized.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Sadly, if you have already cut up a green burl, it may all warp/split/crack.
Normally you coat the cut ends of the whole burl, and dry slowly for one to ten years. There is no fast way to make Christmas come or dry a burl.

 

[Tom Lewis]

You can also coat the pieces with a wax emulsion sometimes called "Anchorseal". Wood working stores carry it.
The wax emulsion slows down the drying process.
I would coat with the wax emulsion, and put in a paper bag, and store in a cool place. Then I would check occasionally and fill any cracks with super glue.
If you go to the AAW forums and do a search on drying wood you will get all kinds of recomendations.
Some boil the wood, others freeze it, others microwave it, some soak it in dishwater soap, others soak in DNA.
I don't think there is any sure way to speed up the drying process without the risk of warps and cracks.