Harvesting burl

[J.Marsillo]

I see this tree every time I go to my mothers house,it looks like a basketball is stuck on it half way up.It has been dead for a few years now and I was thinking about asking the land owner if it can come down.

The tree itself isnt that big but the growth is, is this a good peice of burl or a knotty mess and waste of time.I'm pretty sure the tree was a maple.

 

[DirkDiggler]

Can you examine and possibly 'probe' the burl before cutting the tree? If it is in good shape or not rotted to badly you could probably use some of it. The burl may even have some spalting by now. :thumbup: There is a very good chance the wood will need to be stabilised. I say it would not hurt to talk to the land owner. If he lets you cut it for free [your doing it as a favor to him ofcourse ] and the wood is no good all your out is a little time.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

The burls above ground are often tumors or insect damage. They may be usable,but are mostly hollow and no good. The burls you want for knives are usually root burls from the part of the tree at and just below the ground line. These can be huge (up to several thousand pounds) and have solid wood with swirling grain.They are cut away from the trunk and roots and allowed to dry slowly for years.Some are steamed to make the wood change in character and color.After drying,they are slabbed with BIG bandsaws. The thick slabs are allowed to dry for another period of time.When all is ready they are cut into smaller pieces for things like knife handles. Stabilization by impregnation with acrylic resins is very beneficial to burl woods. The color and pattern may be significantly increased by stabilization. Soaking in Minwax wood hardener, Nelsonite, Paraffin solutions,PEG, and such things is not the same kind of STABILIZATION that you want in a knife handle.It may "stabilize" the wood from rotting or warping,but it won't make it polish or look any better. To get it stabilized right takes large vacuum chambers, pressure tanks, and very expensive chemicals.I send everything to Mike at WSSI.
Stacy

 

[Dakota 11]

from my experinces that size of burl would yield very little usable wood once u get rid of the outside covering. my brother just gave me a slab of redwood burl its like 3 feet long 2 feet wide and maybe 18 inches at tallest point. thats the size range i would look to get. i have cut down to size a few burls and what i start with and end up with is big difference. ill try and post a pic of the burl i have sitting in my garage. oh and it weighs about 250 pounds.