Harvesting & drying Burl

melsdad

melsdad

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Apr 3, 2008
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I have access to a lot of cherry burl growing in about a 3 acre area of woods . However it is still attached to growing trees. Some of the burls are close to the ground, and others are 20' up the trunk. Once I get the tree down where should I cut the burls? Should I leave some of the trunk above, and below the burl to allow for end checking? I plan to coat the cut ends of the wood with Anchorseal. How long will it take to naturally dry a burl of say roughly 14" diameter?
 
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Cut a foot of trunk waste wood on each side. Seal as soon as practical.

Let dry for several years and then trim back the extra. Check the moisture content in the new cuts and re-seal to dry a year more.

Cut into large blocks, and let sit six months...then cut into the desired size blocks. Let these sit at least a month.

It can take five years to dry a large burl.

Mark, at Burl Source, can give more detailed and probably better info, so send him a PM.
 
If you have a lot of burls, experiment. Bladesmith has given good advice, but you might try cutting one burl into 2" by 3" blocks, coat with anchor seal and see what happens. It might dry quicker with a smaller size.
I turn a lot of wood. A couple of years ago I cut a large burl off a elm tree. I rough turned three bowls out of the burl. I coated them with anchorseal. About 5 months later I finished turned the bowls with no cracking.
 
Brian,
You can shoot me a PM as well. Cherry is tough one, and will really crack up on ya unless its done right. I have some drying right now in knife size blocks. Larry
 
Thanks for the replys guys! Larry when I get ready to do this I will contact you before I cut anything.

Thanks
 
I don't have any experience with cherry burl so take my advice with a grain of salt.

You have 2 choices how to deal with the burl.

1st choice.
Seal any cut surfaces, cover with a tarp and forget about it for several years.
Then cut up what is still intact between the cracks. Lots of waste this way.

2nd choice.
Cut into slabs and seal.
Store out of direct light and forget about it for a couple years.
Then cut the slabs into blocks. Re-seal and let finish drying about another year.
There will still be some waste this way but not as much.

Some of the difficult to dry burls will try to tear themselves apart when drying. This because the outer surfaces dry faster and the wood moved more than the inner, damper portions. By cutting into slabs and allowing to dry slowly there is less movement in the wood.

Here is a photo of a cherry burl slab sent to me from Mark Samsel here on the forum. If I remember correctly, he cut this burl last year and sealed with parafin wax. I was surprised how little the wood has moved. It is still over 20% moisture content but it looks like it is doing good. The slab is about 2 inches thick so I am guessing I have another year or two before it will be ready to use.

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I hope this helps.
 
A friend who's family makes high ticket canoe paddles tells me that it is best to cut your wood in the winter when the sap is down.
Any thoughts?
 
Ed Fowler said:
A friend who's family makes high ticket canoe paddles tells me that it is best to cut your wood in the winter when the sap is down.
Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

By doing what Ed mentioned there is less movement in the wood as it dries.
This is a common practice with suppliers of tonewoods for musical instruments.
Holly is another best cut in the winter to maintain the snow white color.
 
Yes Mark (Burl source), you are right about that burl being cut when it was. I have cut approx 15 cherry burls. In the beggining, I cut them right into small blanks around 2" x 2" x 7-10". As stated above, cherry burl can be difficult. Mark from burl source had written in a thread to not be tempted to cut up the burls into blanks but to look for the best figure and cut them out ( something like that). You may feel like your wasting wood that way but if you want exceptional pieces- that would be the way to go. So after cutting all those burls, and having over a hundred knife blank pieces drying, I now cut the burl about 6" under and 6" over it on the tree. Then I seal the ends and just let em sit in a dark place at a temp that never gets below 60* and never gets above 65*. I just forget about them. In the past I have also cut pieces into slabs ( like the one above) and that also works but it does increase the chances of movement but it will dry quicker. I usually get the cherry burls off unhealthy looking trees or from trees that have to be cut down for whatever reason. As far as the smaller blanks I cut, I would say approx 60% of them had very little movement but some bent up like a potatoe ( hehe) chip. Take your time and be patient. In general, in the past,-with the smaller pieces I cut- I would totally seal them. Then in about 1 year I would scrape off the wax from the front and back, then in about 6-8 months I would scrape off the other sides. Then all I have left is the ends sealed and thats how they are now. THATS HOW i DID IT ANYWAY ...On another note, what I mainly look for now is not just any cherry burl but the cherry burls that have small trunks ( an overall thin tree) with a wide burl around it. That way Im not wasting alot of time messing around or wasting low figure wood. Just a thought-Thanks Mark BTW-Mark, I melted some of that slab with a heat gun ( at a good distance-to let it breath and to show a bit of figure). What was the moisture content exactly- can you tell. I need to invest in a good moisture meter.
When I initailly cut the burls ( in the begining) in small blanks, they would have some awesome figure when wetted. Now they seem to have lost their luster but when I take a piece and give it a quick sanding and a quick buff-it can be amazing. Have fun and good luck MELSDAD
 
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The cherry burl piece in the photo I posted gets a reading of 20% with my moisture meter.
I use a moisture meter by Lignomat. The one I have cost just over $100. It can read from 6 to 36%.
There are cheaper meters but they are made for checking firewood and such. Not very accurate.
 
As a gunstock supplier, I dry a lot of wood. Always seal the end grains (also side grains in feather and burl). I always use parafin. Always keep out of the sun. Always sticker so all sides will dry. This lessens warping. Most areas in the US are dry at about 12% moisture. The NW coast is about 20% so nothing ever dries properly there. Desert areas can be 5-7%...meters vary, even good ones. A decent rule of thumb is 3 years for 3" thick but add another year after being dry for stability. Proper drying time for fine instruments is 75 years. The wood will also gain hardness from tempering in that time. There are two basic kinds of meters. One uses pins which are pushed into the wood and resistence measured between them. This tells you little about moisture in the center of the wood. Another type measures through the wood. Some go an inch deep in reading, better ones go further. To check, measure the wood then place your hand under the wood in contact with it. If the reading jumps, it is measuring your hand moisture. Figure $500 for a really good meter...probably German).
 
Peter,
Do you have some contact info? Send me a PM or email if you have a minute. Thanks Larry
 
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