Fresh Burls

Winter time is usually when the burl hunters bring in burl.
Most of our burl comes from guys who work for tree services or are cutting firewood.
These just got pressure washed. They are mostly side burls that are sliced off the trunk like trimming away a branch.



Sometimes we get people bringing stuff that don't have a clue and butcher the trees. The 2 bottom pieces came from a property owner who butchered the wood. I wanted to pay him not to cut wood. Fortunately it was from trees on his own property and the rest was getting used for firewood. These 2 pieces were messed up for most uses but I will still be able to salvage some good handle blocks. The big one is going to yield a bunch of very good blocks. So next thing to do is cut these up into blocks and put them into the drying room.

Someone else made a comment that my job must be fun and likened it to treasure hunting.
Treasure hunting is a good way to describe what I get to do. My part here is fun.
But the hourly wage employees.....we work them like dogs.

wow, they sure look awesome. I can only dream about the finished products.

That big block looks nice! The dog is handsome too!

She is one of the happiest dogs I have ever seen. Great personality and her pups acted just like her.
She belongs to one of my co workers.

What a treasure trove!

Finished cutting these 3 burls today. Now into the drying room.

It will be quite a while before this batch is dry, then off to K&G for stabilizing.
With most burl I like to work with the fresh, whole burl so I can have more control over the look.
I cut almost all of these so the faces of the blocks would be parallel to the outer surface of the burl.
This way of cutting produces a lot more waste but I think the look is more than worth the loss.
My thinking is that it is better to have a few really good looking pieces than several mediocre looking ones.

These photos give an idea of the look you get when the blocks are cut with the faces parallel to the outer surface of the burl.
This photo shows the outer surface. Note the pins and bubbled areas.


Now the cut surface. When cut parallel to the outer surface the figure looks very similar. The eyes are what we see as pins on the outer surface and the rounded shapes are the bubble like areas surrounding the pins.


If I was cutting blocks from pre-cut slabs or blocks like you get on ebay or specialty wood suppliers I would only get a couple if any with optimal burl figure like this. Too often they are cutting for volume because that is what makes the most sense from an accountant's point of view.

A while back I read some advice to knife makers about sanding belts. "Use them like they are free".
I liked that. So when I cut whole burls I cut it like it was free doing whatever it takes to get the look I want.
I can't do that with everything but I will when I can.

A quick note: this wood is not for sale. It will be quite a while before it is dry. Then off to K&G for stabilizing. Just wanted to show some photos of what I am up to. The dog was not really cutting the burl. She needs a lot more training before I am willing to let her start cutting the good stuff.

She looks ready to get started to me!

Mark, have you tried stabilized wood yourself? Seems like that's the only thing which you don't do yourself these days. I've been investigating this topic for some time and found it to be pretty easy from technical point, but not worth if from economical point for home environment. What do you think about it?

icanhaschzbrgr said:

Mark, have you tried stabilized wood yourself? Seems like that's the only thing which you don't do yourself these days. I've been investigating this topic for some time and found it to be pretty easy from technical point, but not worth if from economical point for home environment. What do you think about it?

Click to expand...

I did my own stabilizing for a couple years and got good at it.
But....when I finally sent a batch to K&G to compare I found they did better than me.
and the cost was about the same as what I was spending on chemicals alone.
I have been having them do my stabilizing ever since then.