Local Burl Sample

Sam Salvati

Sam Salvati

Joined
Aug 6, 2007
Messages
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Here is a couple shots of some local (literally just outside my house a bit) burl, I am not sure what kind of wood it is, but I clipped off the bark to get a look at the wood underneath and WOW what a pleasant surprise. This tree fell last summer, I really would love some tips on how to harvest this burl, and not have it crack up into a bunch of peices, so how would I seal it until I can get it stabilised/while it dries out a bit?

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That knife is one I made modeled after the one in Tim Lively's video, I made it after watching the video.
 
Looks like a fir or pine. It is very hard to get all the pitch out of that stuff. A friend of mine were i used to live owned a burl shop. He made a beautiful table out of a huge fir burl. 10 yrs later it began to weep. Had to scrap the whole thing. It had cured for 4 or 5 yrs before he made the table. If you want to harvest it cut the tree obove and below the burl. Seal the ends and put it in your garage and forget about it for 3 or 4 years. When you get really tired of tripping over it slab it out and see what you have. If it is still wet sticker it up and let it dry slow. Cover with plastic to keep it from drying too fast.
 
You can use shellac or white glue, wax or even just wrap a piece of plastic around the ends.
 
Sam , don't think that's pine ! Pine rarely has burl around here and the bark isn't right for white pine. Far more likely to to be oak. Show me the tree and I should be able to tell you .
 
does it have any smell?? Forgot you guys are on the far side of the earth:D It looks like a lot of jack pine we have out here on the left coast. The conifers in the background kind of look like pine but could also be wrong. If it start bleeding you know if is a conifer of some kind.
 
It has a nasty burny smell. I don't think it is pine, though we dfo have tons of those they are usually white pines or a kind of spruce or hemlock.
 
Burny smell ? Well if it's red oak it kind of smells like piss !..Those conifers in the background are white pine.
 
Sam , Give me a call and I'll check it out. Birch doesn't have much smell except when you chew black birch twigs it tastes pleasant like root beer [the same chemical] .
 
Sam, that's black cherry, aka wild cherry, chokecherry. That's what they make furniture from.
When you cut it, be prepared to seal it right away. It will crack while you watch.
 
Looked like wild cherry to me ,too.
Sam, Cut it off about 4" from the burl on both sides. Paint the cuts ,and the place you cut for a peek, with white exterior paint.Paint about an inch up the bark on the ends. Write the date and species on the paint in waterproof marker.Put it in a dry place for a couple of years and let it dry out.A warm place is good, not hot,though. A garage or in the shop should be fine. After it has dried for a couple of years, cut off the ends and slice it right down the middle. Look at the pattern from the end cuts and the flat slice and decide how you want the pattern to look. Slice it into 2" sections ,and dry it for probably another year. Have it stabilized when the moisture content gets below 10%, preferably below 7%.
Stacy
 
Cherry has a distinct pleasant 'cherry' smell quite noticeable when i have cherry in my firewood pile ! Not a burny nasty smell. Sam give me a call , I've got to find the answer !
 
Take a picture of the whole tree and I'll try to ID it if you'd like. (It may be a northern species I'm not familiar with, though)

..If there's a branch with buds still intact it might help.
 
I'd say Cherry. If it is,it's a challenge 'cause it may have lots of voids and incursions but what's usable should be great. If it's free,it's worth tripping over for a while!:D:D
 
You can go ahead and resaw it, coat the ends with wax or shellac to prevent checking. Slicing it up will speed the drying process. When I used to make flatbows I'd keep semi-dried billets of osage in the trunk of the ex-wife's car. Make sure you have dunnage under it to let air circulate around the entire piece. I can't remember what the time/thickness is. You can also make a drying box with plywood, chickenwire or something similar and a hot lamp.
 
I will bet its cherry. The farther north you go the more you see cherry burls. My parents place has an area of about 10 acers of cherry trees and about 90% of them have burls.
Cherry does have a very distict smell. It also tends to bleed a sticky gum. I have had the best luck avoiding cracks by leting the burl dry slow in a cool dry place for a year or two and then cutting it into thick slabs and letting it dry for another year.
Good luck.
 
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