Falling into it big time. My sons brand new brother in law is an arborist, whom I meet last night. He cuts and hauls logs for the Amish and he often finds Burls( last one was 300 lbs of cherry). Best part is that the Amish don’t want them and they get thrown away, and he will GIVE me what I want including crotch wood.
Question is, How do I take care of these fresh Burls and crotches?
Work Safe, Count to 10 when your done for the day !!
Bruce S.
Replies
Bruce,
Slab 'em in the boule if ya ain't gonna turn 'em I'd say. 300 lbs.! Oh man you may have some really spectacular wood. I have some cherry burls, but not even close to what you have access to. I'll take some pics of mine and post 'em here on Monday to give you and idea. On second thought I posted some pics in Wood & Materials a while back so a search might get you there.
Course if ya don't want 'em give me a shout and I'll come and get 'em! As to that other stuff, I better stay away from sayin anythang 'bout that other than to say I'll take that off your hands too!
Sittin here drooling thinking about them burls,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
I would suggest cutting them down as far as you can/want, then coat everything with Anchor Seal. Then wait.
Optional: Send them down to me.
-Steve
The green wood Anchor seal looks like the best option. I've turned a lot of fresh Green wood. But a 300lb chunk would be over whelming.
Any best guesses on curing time of sealed chunks? Also do I go for blocks or bandsawed rounds? Thinking rounds would dry more evenly.Work Safe, Count to 10 when your done for the day !!
Bruce S.
Bruce,
I'd turn them as fast as possible - while they're green. Atleast rough them out. Then let the roughed out bowls dry slowly. If you can't get to them soon enough, seal them good and well. Maybe a chainsaw would make quick work of hollowing them out partway.
If you have the time, cut the rounds, if not, squares'll have to do.
Note: Not the best project for a Midi-Lathe.Chris @ http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
What are you trying to accomplish with them? If you're going to make some kind of turned things, then like Chris says, turn them at least roughly to size first. Get rid of as much of the excess wood as quickly as possible to maximize yield after drying.
The old rule of thumb is "one year per inch of thickness," but I don't think that's right. It should be one year for a 1"-thick piece, but proportionally more/less for thicker/thinner pieces. So a 1/2"-thick piece should only take four months or so, while a 2"-thick piece should be given at least three years.
-Steve
Bruce,
It's most likely the cheap o'l phart in me that tells me turning a giant burl is such as waste of wood, especially if there's spectacular grain patterns inside, which most likely there is.
Yea it would make a great looking bowl but it just seems to me that its final resting place deserves a grander stage. Oh man I'm sure to hear about that!
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
That same thought occured to me. They do have some turning tools that cut back on the waste. They be a bit spendy though. Here's one of them.------------------------------------
It would indeed be a tragedy if the history of the human race proved to be nothing more than the story of an ape playing with a box of matches on a petrol dump. ~David Ormsby Gore
I would also think that you could find, some how, some way, a veneer buyer who would also be very interested in the burls, and you two could work something out. Some burl is worth say $300 to him. You say, you take it, cut it into veneers for me, and I'll take $300 worth of veneer sheets in return, and you sell the rest for your efforts. Maybe. (Hey, sounds good on paper!)
Real trucks dont have sparkplugs
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