Burl find,,5 pics

[stevers]

Hey All,
I cut a big a__ eucalyptus today and found this on the side of the lower trunk. I shaved off two big slabs and home they came. I believe this would be burl, am I correct.
Now a couple of questions. Is burling usually,,,,sort of soft and almost rotten feeling? Its also pretty light.

Here is a few shots of the raw slab. Approx 5" thick.

Here are some of the blanks I cut from one of the slabs. They are 1 1/4" x 6". Some of the smaller cut offs are 3" and a few are misc lengths.

This is what I did to set them up to dry. Rows with stickers in between.

What do you think of the patterns in the end grains? Speaking of end grain, this is my first totally green/wet wood find. What can I do to help them dry more evenly, using fairly household products? I'm afraid I wouldn't have time to order something to treat the ends.
Maybe candle wax? Or paraffin? (i know it's wax, but it's pure and non-colored)
Any help would be apriciated.

 

[jjenk02]

Just send it all to me and I will dry it for you.. Kidding aside, I don't know much about drying wood, it will need to be stabilized, but I have heard putting wax on the ends does help keep it form checking.

What are the different items under your work bench, the black items? What is in the prescription bottles

 

[Firefyter-emt]

Steve, I have used candle wax / paraffin wax. Don't go too thick or it will want to flake off. I still have those branch bits in my shop you sent me done like this. I have an old camp fire coffee pot that I keep my wax in. Throw it on the BBQ and let it heat up. Dunk one end at a time and let them dry. Paraffin is cheap by the box and I just toss 1/2 used candles in the pot inbetween "cookings"

BTW, I make fire starters for my fireplace with cardboard egg cartons, sawdust & the wax. Pack the egg carton with sawdust of wood chips (I assume you all can find some) and pour the wax into the egg carton untill full. Make sure this is done on wax paper or some newspaper as it will leak thru. I break them up into the "egg hole portions" and keep them in a coffee can. The work awesome! []

LOL.. I just remembered I made a web site years ago for some fellow campers about this! Wow, the boys are so small, and my daughter was not even born yet! http://www.yankeetoys.org/lee/firestarters.htm

 

[stevers]

James,
The black things are three of the five lights for my light tent I use for pen photography. The pill bottles contain small items such as small hinges, screws clasps and the such. Items I don't want to put too far away or I will loose them.
Hi Lee, good to hear from you. Still waiting for you to turn something with the mesquite. I realize it will probably be fairly plain to turn. It'll be something from another state to show folks.

 

[Firefyter-emt]

Yea, I know... I keep forgetting about it. I have them in one of those yellow trays in the top of my tool box. I really should turn something with them!

By the way, when you dip them, go half an inch or so up the sides too.

 

[stevers]

I'll do that. If this latest stuff works out, I'll send you a couple of blanks. I have enough to turn 24 pens, top and bottom barrels and I only cut up half of one of the two slabs. Although the other slab is not as good as the first, it seems to have more rot in it. We'll see.

 

[terry q]

Steve

I cut them 1" sq and about 6" long, stack them as you have shown and let them dry. I never coat the ends. Any end checking can be removed when you size the blanks later. These small pieces will dry pretty fast at room temp. You could set them on top of your heat ducts to hurry the process.

Terry

 

[Ozzy]

That is some great looking wood.
I get a lot of green/wet wood from friends, after I cut it into blanks, I let them sit for a day or two (depends on how hot the weather is), drill the tube holes, and then I put them in the microwave on defrost (defrost is very impotant) for 28 seconds at a time. I usually do this four or five times, usually after the fourth time I don't see any more moisture on the surface, run the drill through the holes again, and then glue in the tubes, this helps keep them from warping. I've only had one crack on me and that was one of the first ones I did.

 

[ilikewood]

Wax prevents wood from drying out too fast. When you put wax on the ends, that is for wood that the end grain is on the end. The water will exit the end grain first and most of the water will wick out the end grain. When the wood dries too fast, especially on the end grain, this is the point of checking or cracks.

On a burl, the grain could be anywhere, so as it dries (if too fast), it will split at that point. On burls if you don't stabilize or rapid dry with a pentacryl or something like that, it could crack or check anywhere. I prefer to wax the WHOLE blank and let it slowly dry over a long time (several years). It will still dry, but much slower.

 

[wudnhed]

Steve, Ray and I are jealous that you found such beautiful wood. We had 2 eucalyptus trees fall last year during a storm. After getting into turning we inspected all the wood that had been cut and stacked, no burls[]. Yours will make some awesome pens.

 

[stevers]

Thanks Becca, I trim trees for a living so I run into some nice stuff from time to time. Although not as often as you might think.

 

[Firefyter-emt]

Hey Steve that would be great! I just found out today that my "wood supplier" quit his job so finding cheap stuff might of just gotten a bit harder. [] Oh well, I still have a fair bit, but I am going to miss the $1.00 a pound stuff!

 

[stevers]

Dollar a pound? Nice. Cant say I'll become your new wood supplier, but ill send you a couple now and then. If you where like me, I have only been turning a couple a week anyway.
Ah, dinner time, later.

 

[Firefyter-emt]

Yea it was nice (like the African Blackwood when I could get it!) Mostly Paduck, Imbuya, Zebrawood.. Stinks becuase there is no one local to me. I appreciate the offer, drop me an e-mail if you forgot the addy.

 

[stevers]

Will do, think I kept it around. Give me a chance to use all the priority mail stuff I got. Lables, boxes, all that jazz and all free. I am set up to by postage on line too. As long as I keep it under the pound limit.