Burl!!!!!!!

[coach]

My neighbor just called and said he had a 80lb piece of burl from white oak while on an Easter trip. First question: Can I turn white oak? Second: How do I cut up the burl to make blanks. I need detailed instructions on what part do I cut with a chainsaw and what part with a band saw. I have tons of wood I could get for myself, just don't know how yet. Who knows, if it is good, I might offer some here!

 

[tipusnr]

Basically you use a chainsaw until it gets thin enough to put through a band saw with a flat side facing the table. With a burl the direction isn't real important - you just have to feel your way through. With branches or small logs you cut through the pith, or center first to minimize movement.

You will want to cut your pieces oversized at first as shrinkage and wood movement during drying will mean losing some of the blank before turning as a pen.

In my photo gallery is a picture of a jig I use to make harvesting with a chainsaw a little less hazardous.

Good luck.

 

[KKingery]

Wow - an 87lb piece of burl! Some folks have all the luck!

 

[woodscavenger]

You say that now. Wait till he tries to manhandle the beast on his saw. []

 

[wdcav1952]

Coach, It is not burl, but the last pix on page 3 of my album is white oak. Congratulations on a great wood grab.

 

[low_48]

Coach,
This burl will be extremely hard to dry. White oak does not like to give up it's water easily, and by being a burl, the wood will be extremely dense. This wood will really move alot during drying. I would expect alot of cracking. I would cut it into 1" square blanks. I would take those wet blanks and put them in paper lunch sacks. If you pack them too tight in a paper bag they will mold. That's why I like lunch bags. Put the bags on the floor of your basement for a couple of months before even thinking about taking them out of the bag. You will probably find alot of surface checking as they dry. Sometimes those close up when the blank is completely dry. A bowl turner friend of mine is now soaking his blanks in denatured alcohol to slow the drying. The alcohol will soak into the wood and combine with the trapped water. When you bring them out of the alcohol and it dries, the alcohol and water dry out of the blank. I've not tried it yet.

Rich

 

[Old Griz]

<b>Actually Coach, everyone here is lying to you... that stuff is extremely dangerous... and needs to be disposed of properly... I am certified to handle that kind of work... and since you are a IAP member I will not only do it for free, but am willing to incur the shipping cost of that nasty piece of wood to MD...</b>

YOU LUCKY DOG... the best I ever got free was a piece of 6" cracked burl from a buddy, he meant well and I did get 2-3 pens out of it...
Burls can be nasty to dry, as already stated, but the end results can be spectacular... Cut your blanks oversize, put them in the paper bags, but I don't like putting them on the floor.. I usually put them on a middle shelf in the room because there is less variable in temps at that level..
One other solution is to find one a dryer, like they use to make dried fruit at a yard sale and stack them in it with a fair amount of room between the blanks and run it at the lowest setting... checking the blanks and turning them about every 12 hours..

 

[pastorbill1952]

I don't think weight or size whould be any problem to COACH. Seems to me he could blow a whistle and several strong young men could do the work LOL. Congrats Coach on the gift.

 

[coach]

The great part of this burl is that it was found on the ground and had been there awhile. The neighbor said it had been down for quite some time and he thought it was pretty dry. We'll see!!!!!
Pastor, those same boys are my source for free antlers and shell casings!!!