Handling Cherry Burls

[G L Drew]

I just cut up a block of cherry burl I have had in my shop for a couple of years. (Should be dry now ) It is beautiful stuff but you can see that it has a lot of bark pockets and holes. I intend to have this stabilized but wonder how to deal with the gaps and voids. Any suggestions?

 

[L6steel]

Stabilizing will fill some of the gaps but not all of em. You need to get some thick super glue, most knife suppliers sell it. It works good for gap filling.

 

[Fred.Rowe]

Cherry is extremely brittle after most of the moisture has been driven from it.
The blocks of wood, shown, will not have a great deal of strength by themselves and will tend to come apart when you machine them. The stabilizing process will add some strength, but of course that is not its purpose and the added strength, will be minimal.
By the looks of the voids, on the surface, I would think the inside will have a continuation of these. If money is not the issue, it may be worth a try. But if the knife you are building is your focus, you may want to look elsewhere for a more suitable handle material.

Good luck, Fred

 

[G L Drew]

You might be right Fred. I hate to sink a lot of money into them (40 blocks) and have them look "repaired" when the knife is done. Cocobolo rules!

 

[Fred.Rowe]

You might be right Fred. I hate to sink a lot of money into them (40 blocks) and have them look "repaired" when the knife is done. Cocobolo rules!

How true on the cocobolo. I have used redwood burl that was stabilized. It actually exploded after it was on the handle. The grain was wound a bit tight I guess.
Nice web site, by the way. :thumbup:

Fred

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

I stabilize a lot of wood like you show. I have done Buckeye burl, redwood burl, and Carpathian elm. All have voids bark inclusions. Have them stabilized by WSSI. It will be much stronger.Just grind the scales to rough dimension and fill with Thick super glue.Do a couple of fills, then do one more with the slow set super glue and fine wood dust from the earlier sanding. The paste will fill the holes nicely. Sand, and then add thin super glue. A couple of more treatments with the thin will make all these voids into nice knots. Sand to final shape, adding glue as needed. The end result is often stunning. Sometimes you can't even tell.
Stacy

 

[Fred.Rowe]

As Stacy says, it might be worth a try, if you are thinking about scales. But if you are thinking about doing hidden tang knives, I don't believe the effort involved to make the wood usable is worthwhile. In some situations it is easier to spend the money for a quality product in the first place.

Fred

 

[steelshaper]

The thing about burls that sucks is the wasted wood there is so much that you cant use.
When I cut into them it seems like half the time I cut into the rong areas and lose solid pieces. In the end I pick through what I have got and only use the stuff with no or very little bark inclusions. Also some parts may look like wood but are in fact dense bark.I personally have never had a problem with cherry burls being brittle. In fact my Grandfather used to make mallets out of cherry and maple burl because when dried they would not split. I jest gave Delbert Ealy a large quantity of cherry burl and he had some stabalized he plans on selling some. If you want to try some drop him a line. That way you could see what it is like before having yours stabalized. Up here in Northern Mi cherry burls are very commen. I have about a cord of cherry burls in my parents barn drying right now.
Good luck Will Crump

 

[Fred.Rowe]

I think the region in which the cherry grows has much to do with the way they develop. Here, in SE Ohio the black cherry has a lot of mineral deposits that is drawn up into the tree as it grows. This makes for very brittle burls, especially where the grain twist together. In this area hard maple and ash is used for mallets and handles.
It still thrills me to go on line and order different woods from around the world. A knife makers paradise. :thumbup: Fred

 

[G L Drew]

Has anyone had any experience with Andersonite from Darren Ellis? I have a small vacuum system and have used with some success on maple but poor results on other species.

 

[Dan Pierson]

I jest gave Delbert Ealy a large quantity of cherry burl and he had some stabalized he plans on selling some.

Just saw Delbert and some of that cherry burl at Ashokan. Very nice stuff -- I left with two blocks of it among the six total from his table.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Here is a photo of a handle in redwood burl that looked almost exactly like your cherry burl. After stabilizing it had voids and crack lines all over it. I sliced it into scales and filled the cracks with CA, sanded the handle after assembly, and redid the CA before final sanding and buffing. The finish is 400 grit and a quick buff on the polishing wheel,using no scratch white. I just came in from the shop after doing this one today.

For more photos of this knife, see the thread, "FISHING KNIFE"
Stacy

 

[G L Drew]

Thanks for the picture Stacy. I might just give this cherry a try.