How to dry this burl...

3

345peeler

Joined
Dec 31, 2013
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Well, today I harvested a nice maple burl and plan to get a few scales out of it. But, I have no experience in drying wood at all let alone burls. So after some research I think I have a plan that may work. First I will cut the burl into oversize chunks (say 5/8x1 3/4x5). Then I'll boil the scales (a common practice among wood turners). And then I'll let them dry for awhile and see how it works. My question is: Would this have any chance of working.


P.S. I'm only 13 and don't have the money to get them kiln dried or buy burl sealant so I'm working with what I've got. :)
 
The last burl I dried was stored in the rafters of an attic for several years. It turned out very nicely.

I'm not sure of any methods of fast drying lumber. Perhaps someone with more experience will chime in.
 
The good thing is you are 13 and asking for advice before doing anything. The bad thing is you will likely be several years older, maybe as much as 18, by the time the burl is ready for knife handles.

DO NOT cut it up yet. Please do not boil it or treat it like wood for turning is done. (FWIW, I have been a woodworker and turner for over 50 years and have never known anyone who boiled their wood?). Read the threads that Tryppyr gave and you will get an idea what it will take. It won't cost anything for now, but in several years when the wood is dry, you should get the best blocks stabilized.

Put this search engine in your browser bar and use it to find out most any topic that has been discussed on Bladeforums:
https://www.google.com/cse/home?cx=011197018607028182644:qfobr3dlcra
 
That loud noise everyone just heard was 345peeler's jaw hitting the floor, telling a 13 year old to wait 5 years was probably like receiving a death sentence for him, when my boys were 13 they couldn't wait 5 minutes for something little alone five years ;0)

345peeler take a picture of this magnificent burl and post it, maybe someone will offer to trade you something for it
 
False alarm boys. One of my friend's dad has a kiln and they are getting ready to do some maple so it should work out great. Thanks for all your help and patience though.
 
345peeler said:
False alarm boys. One of my friend's dad has a kiln and they are getting ready to do some maple so it should work out great. Thanks for all your help and patience though.
Click to expand...

I hope this isnt too late getting to you...
You can't kiln dry burl... Well, you can, but you'll kill it... Kiln drying is for straight grained or at least uniform planks carefully spaced and oriented where warping will be addressed, most likely with a planer, after the fact. With highly figured wood, the best way with the least loss is time in a controlled environment.

I know experienced woodworkers who screw up highly figured stuff because they assume they can treat it like their other lumber... Plus they work it way wetter than we ever want. We want single digit moisture content...

Think of what a burl looks like. That curling is the grain. Water leaves wood through the endgrain and shrinks between the grain. Now, wad all that grain up. Which way is it going to shrink? Where is the water evaporating from? You are going to have losses with burl, crotch cuts, spalted wood, etc etc etc. But, proper drying at least keeps you from creating more loss. There are plenty of guys who swear a microwave works, or boiling (with Stacy on this one, really, wood soup?) or using their home oven... There are some things that just don't have shortcuts. This, IMHO is one of them.
 
Be careful with trying to dry with a microwave oven. Years ago I discovered that the root burl of the Agarita bush, which grows here in Texas made beautiful knife handles. We were in a rare wet year here and I decided to dry it in the microwave. Well that turned into a disaster when the burl exploded and left stains all over the inside of my wifes microwave that wouldn't come out. So---I got to buy her a new MWO. I have heard of people using microwave ovens to prematurely age spruce to be used on the top face of an accoustic guitar.
 
Peeler, i'm not sure why you feel the need to kiln dry the burl, unless you got it from the bottom of a pond. I've never had any problems with burl handle material. It will dry very slowly over time all by itself but you won't have any measurable shrinkage problems with it.
 
Bootstrap Bill said:
Be careful with trying to dry with a microwave oven. Years ago I discovered that the root burl of the Agarita bush, which grows here in Texas made beautiful knife handles. We were in a rare wet year here and I decided to dry it in the microwave. Well that turned into a disaster when the burl exploded and left stains all over the inside of my wifes microwave that wouldn't come out. So---I got to buy her a new MWO. I have heard of people using microwave ovens to prematurely age spruce to be used on the top face of an accoustic guitar.
Click to expand...

Maybe that wasn't clear enough as I stated it... DO NOT MICROWAVE wood. EVER... Not just 'be careful' or 'if you do...' This is a soapbox issue for me. Sorry. Ruins wood, microwaves, and can be dangerous for several reasons.

Plenty of guys here probably know how I feel about this asinine subject... ;)
 
There has been a microwave system developed years ago .One of the gunmakers was drying gunstocks that way .The Gov't was to fund rsearch for this but pulled out .I did consume lots of electricity !
I have read that apple was sometimes soaked in a pond for a year whick helped prevent warping .I never heard of it for anything else. DON'T BOIL !! Patience is the best thing you need for drying wood and burl takes more patience !
 
Guys, the good news is there is no shortage of burls in this world. If peeler ruins this one (which he seems set on doing), there will always be more. Hopefully, we have imparted enough wisdom that he won't do something really stupid that could injure him. Short of that, I wouldn't worry overmuch about how this one burl drying effort turns out. We've done our part. Now it's his turn.

Time and patience are the answer, but as was noted before at 13 they are rare commodities. Let him make his mastakes and learn from them. Perhaps the old folks around him will learn too,
 
tryppyr said:
Guys, the good news is there is no shortage of burls in this world. If peeler ruins this one (which he seems set on doing), there will always be more. Hopefully, we have imparted enough wisdom that he won't do something really stupid that could injure him. Short of that, I wouldn't worry overmuch about how this one burl drying effort turns out. We've done our part. Now it's his turn.

Time and patience are the answer, but as was noted before at 13 they are rare commodities. Let him make his mastakes and learn from them. Perhaps the old folks around him will learn too,
Click to expand...

Yeah, I kinda figured with the lack if response he has probably enlisted 'buddy's dad' to thoroughly wrench this one apart. I know the frustration of a 13 year old being told to wait 5 years on something. But I also know the sheer amount of upset that comes with discovering something didn't turn out as hoped.

I just wanted to be clear about the microwave thing because Peeler titled the thread in such a manner it will pop up at the top of a search for drying a burl... When I reread my original comment itn didnt seem to thoroughly discourage the practice of using a microwave...
 
When I first started collecting and processing burl and figured woods I did a lot of reading on the internet.
There were numerous ways to process the wood quickly. I think I tried almost all of them.
The majority ended up ruining the wood. All it takes to become a self proclaimed expert on the internet at anything is access to a computer.
Something to remember......most shortcuts do not work.
I still cringe when I see old posts of mine back when I thought I knew more than I actually did.

Back on subject;
Unless you have a tried and true method with a specific wood, best way to dry most woods is seal the end grain and let it air dry slowly. Vague rule of thumb is to allow 1 year for each inch of thickness. Dense woods longer.
 
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