Callous tissue

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sorcerertd

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Apparently growth over a tree wound is called callous tissue. I suppose that makes sense. The real question is, does it make for good pen blanks? Here are some pics of stuff I pulled from that monster white oak that was taken down in my yard. Wondering if anyone has some experience with it?

I was thinking it would likely need to be stabilized, but would probably take dye well and make some cool hybrids. The first pic is on the tree trunk and the second after it was cut off (I have a lot more of this stuff). The last pic is of a different, smaller piece to show some of the grain pattern closeup.

EDIT: apparently callous tissue is the same as a burl. Yeah, that makes sense, too when I think about it. So, I guess we have here some sapwood burl.

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howsitwork

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i've turned bowls including it and , once fully dry it works ( ie turns) well. The bowls were finished with tung oil which fills any small crevices and stabilises it
 

MedWoodWorx

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Nov 23, 2021
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Greece
Apparently growth over a tree wound is called callous tissue. I suppose that makes sense. The real question is, does it make for good pen blanks? Here are some pics of stuff I pulled from that monster white oak that was taken down in my yard. Wondering if anyone has some experience with it?

I was thinking it would likely need to be stabilized, but would probably take dye well and make some cool hybrids. The first pic is on the tree trunk and the second after it was cut off (I have a lot more of this stuff). The last pic is of a different, smaller piece to show some of the grain pattern closeup.

EDIT: apparently callous tissue is the same as a burl. Yeah, that makes sense, too when I think about it. So, I guess we have here some sapwood burl.

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I worked with a similar piece a while ago, it was a chunk of platanus wood and the grain was very similar. Although i didn't dye it, the final result was really nice.
 

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woodwzrd

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Oct 26, 2011
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Baraboo WI
I had a piece of that a while back. It can produce some pretty wild grain patterns. Also referred to as spaghetti oak burl. I stabilized mine and it turned great.
 

MRDucks2

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Jul 17, 2017
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Bristow, IN
I have found callous material to be very hit or miss so far, much more than what I think of as an actual burl.

From my experience a callous has to be fairly large to get workable pieces out of it. I have also found them more likely to have insect data mage or rot, I expect from the overgrowth of the dead wood. Sometimes the bark to wood ratio is so high it isn't worth messing with to me. BUT, occasionally you came some nice grain in there.
 
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