Burl cutting or not

[Jim McLain]

Might get a chance to cut this burl up. It’s probably been cut for thirty years and although cracked seems solid. He said it came out of Mexico but does not know what the wood is. My question is would you cut on it if given the opportunity or skip it.

 

[Dennis J Gooding]

Hard to tell much frOm the picture. I probably would cut off a few thin slices with a bandsaw to see what is below.

 

[Michael Anderson]

If you don’t end up cutting, I like it as a table.

 

[Jim McLain]

If you don’t end up cutting, I like it as a table.

It looks rough but I think there is some nice wood in there. I have been trying to cut into it for 10+years but the owner is attached to it. Ran into him the other day and I thought he was ready, wanted to trade some pieces for wood. Went out to look again, gets rougher every time I see it but he changed his mind again. He’s now 82 and is really attached to it.

 

[Darryn Achall]

this was dried for 30 years in my aunt's shed. Turned into a nice hollow form. Go for it.

 

[JeffSmith]

I was gifted a large walnut burl a few years ago that had sat outside in a wood yard for many years. It was the gnarliest thing I’d ever seen. Someone had at one time taken a good sized slice out of one side (about 25% of the burl) the rest was left in the sun, rain and whatever snows fall up near Chico CA for nearly 2 decades before I got it. Cracked and homely, I started cutting away and came up with several bowl blanks - 2 were 24”+, about 6 more smaller open form bowls, and three or four long tool handles. All good, sound and very attractive wood. We’ll worth hauling it home.
Go slow, and just start cutting, what you find may surprise you. If not, what you learn can be put to use, too.

 

[Jim McLain]

View attachment 61426View attachment 61427 this was dried for 30 years in my aunt's shed. Turned into a nice hollow form. Go for it.

Thanks Darren good to see you can get something this nice out of a rough burl.

 

[Jim McLain]

I was gifted a large walnut burl a few years ago that had sat outside in a wood yard for many years. It was the gnarliest thing I’d ever seen. Someone had at one time taken a good sized slice out of one side (about 25% of the burl) the rest was left in the sun, rain and whatever snows fall up near Chico CA for nearly 2 decades before I got it. Cracked and homely, I started cutting away and came up with several bowl blanks - 2 were 24”+, about 6 more smaller open form bowls, and three or four long tool handles. All good, sound and very attractive wood. We’ll worth hauling it home.
Go slow, and just start cutting, what you find may surprise you. If not, what you learn can be put to use, too.

Thanks Jeff - This is encouraging. The owner originally thought it might be walnut but coming from Mexico I’m thinking something else. Now if I can just get him to cut it open.

 

[Brent@TurnRobust]

I've found some beautiful stuff in uglier burls than that. Expect some losses though.

 

[Scott Hoefs]

It goes without saying to decide what you wish to make before you cut it, bowls, platters, vases. The resulting figuring will change depending on the way you cut it up.

 

[Steve Nix]

This is a 25” mesquite Burl I’ve been trying to harvest the last three years. How I have to decide how I’m going to dissect it. It may take another three years for me to figure that one out.

 

[Jim McLain]

This is a 25” mesquite Burl I’ve been trying to harvest the last three years. How I have to decide how I’m going to dissect it. It may take another three years for me to figure that one out.

Looks nice Steve. Wish I lived closer to big mesquite.

 

[Michael Brown]

Looks nice Steve. Wish I lived closer to big mesquite.

We're getting lucky here in AZ. State capitol is renovating their sites and the olive and mesquite trees are being pulled out. I met one of the contactors and he gives me first refusal on the trees including the root ball. He pulls them out with a claw and keeps the trunk and root on the flatbed. The branches and leaves go in the mulching truck. My front yard looks more and more like a tree graveyard.

 

[Jim McLain]

Started cutting this Burl this morning. Wish you had talked me out of it. Walnut Burl will be good for inlay or casting. Sometimes I get myself into stuff I wish I had not started. Funny thing about this burl was that the part that looked the worst was actually the best.