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Consignment Burl

Thank you for posting all of your photos and helpful info!

I’m a new wood turner and my brother has been cutting burl for me as he finds it on his property and I’m excited to start trying it!
 
I bought a cherry burl once, $50 for a 22” open face burl that came off a tree that had been on the ground for two years. The exposed portion looked good, bark inclusions minimal. But, the outer portions were the same with regular rings that began to open in places as I was sawing it.

For me, it wasn’t bad because it was cheap, I got a few small bowl blanks and I turn a lot of other stuff so boxes, handles, stoppers, pens and only lost 10-15%. I like the “growth impersonating a burl”.

The dark rings are great and the biggest pieces seems to have the most Burl-like character.
 
Jordan Daoust said:
I’m a new wood turner and my brother has been cutting burl for me as he finds it on his property and I’m excited to start trying it!
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That's a great resource!
If you are a new turner, I might suggest he saved some to cut after you acquires some experience. Left on the tree, they could get larger!
I have some cherry burls on my property I've been watching for over 20 years.
 
David, great documentation and customer communication of your commisioned adventure! I searched "burl" this morning just for fun and this has been interesting to read! And I didn't have to wait (like some of the others) to see a turning!

I have made flat lumber projects for 40+ years, however, I only started turning about 4 years ago. I have so much to learn. I have a cherry burl my brother gave me from a tree in his yard in Maine that I have hesitated to cut into because I keep second guessing myself. Your approach and everyone's added comments were helpful. And I remind myself that I just need to start....and see what turns out!

I really like the last photos of the large, shallow bowl! The grain pattern is very unique!
 
Alan Weinberg said:
Side bar—can you remove (part of) a burl without damaging the tree or does one need to cut down the tree? Does burl only removal hurt the tree?
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I’ve seen healthy, living trees with side burls removed. But most burls I see on our property (all cherry burls) have burl growth all the way around the tree. I’m guessing (without knowledge) that if the sides of the burl were sliced off all the way around only the tree would suffer. Might make a good experiment on a tree that needed to removed anyway for some reason.

JKJ
 
John K Jordan said:
I’ve seen healthy, living trees with side burls removed. But most burls I see on our property (all cherry burls) have burl growth all the way around the tree. I’m guessing (without knowledge) that if the sides of the burl were sliced off all the way around only the tree would suffer. Might make a good experiment on a tree that needed to removed anyway for some reason.

JKJ
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If only I had burls I would give it a try.
 
John K Jordan said:
I’ve seen healthy, living trees with side burls removed. But most burls I see on our property (all cherry burls) have burl growth all the way around the tree. I’m guessing (without knowledge) that if the sides of the burl were sliced off all the way around only the tree would suffer. Might make a good experiment on a tree that needed to removed anyway for some reason.

JKJ
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They used kill tres by “girdling” them. This removed the bark and the layer immediately below ( the white soft stuff under the bark). I would guess removing Burl all the way around would have the same effect.
 
Down this way burls are removed from the living tree and the trees mostly survive in the same way that removing a branch doesn't normally kill a tree.

Ring-barking (girdling) a tree including the cambian layer will kill a tree.
 
Neil S said:
Down this way burls are removed from the living tree and the trees mostly survive in the same way that removing a branch doesn't normally kill a tree.

Ring-barking (girdling) a tree including the cambian layer will kill a tree.
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Interesting. So the cambium layer remains intact under a burl instead of growing on the surface? How does the burl grow larger?

Or perhaps the way the burl is sliced off the tree with a chain saw leaves enough to maintain enough water/nutrient transfer for the tree to seal the wound and recover. It would be interesting to examine such a tree 10 years after the burl was cut away, Maybe someone has photos.

Maybe one reason people here simply cut the tree down is the lack of safe and affordable access to a burl high above the ground. And removing one tree will not farm a forest. And harvesting the log can be useful.
 
John K Jordan said:
Interesting. (a) So the cambium layer remains intact under a burl instead of growing on the surface? How does the burl grow larger?

(b) Or perhaps the way the burl is sliced off the tree with a chain saw leaves enough to maintain enough water/nutrient transfer for the tree to seal the wound and recover. It would be interesting to examine such a tree 10 years after the burl was cut away, Maybe someone has photos.
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JKJ

(a) No, the bark and cambian layer are also on the outer surface of the burl, although as anyone who has turned 'collected' wood will know that bark and cambian inclusions can happen in the sap and heartwood and more frequently in burls.

(b) Any decent sized burl on the type of trees that they grow on down our way will be on quite old trees and it would be a shame to destroy the tree for just the burl. Of course, some are on trees that have died and that is less of an issue, although standing dead trees still have their value for nesting hollows, etc. The scars areas left from removing a burl don't always heal over and certainly not within ten years in a slow growing tree.

There are trees here that are referred to as scar trees that have been left with sizeable incisions by our aboriginal people who made canoes and shields from the bark (so often called canoe or shield trees). Some of these were also for ceremonial purposes. Many are hundreds of years old and will never heal over...


While on burls, I was going through some old photos the other day and came across the following one I took of a massive burl on a tree down in Tasmania. For scale, you can see a person on the bottom right standing on the other side of the tree...

1749423686926.jpeg

That's one tree and burl that should be left just as it is to be admired!
 
John K Jordan said:
I so much want to visit Australia for several reasons. I have friends on the East and West coasts, far apart!
My Lovely Bride, our trip planner, said the flight from here is too long. :(
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Yes, having done that trans-Pacific flight a few times, I agree that it is a long one. My brother-in-law did the flight from LA to Sydney once a moth, and then the other way the next month, for may years. He doesn't do it so often nowadays, just four times a year, but he does turn 80 this year. He and we have always done that flight in one hop, but you can always do stop overs in Hawaii and Christchurch/Auckland or Tokyo to do some interesting things along the way.

Of course, ones health is a factor with long flights. I have other relatives now in their eighties that can no longer do the long flights. The flight from here to Europe is the big one for us. Used to be 20hrs with one change of flights in the Middle East, but Qantas now does a non-stop from Perth to London Heathrow in just under 17hrs. Our ancestors who took three months or more to get here from England on sailing ships would be astonished!

Anyway, JKJ, should you ever get down here you can always do a stop over here in Adelaide on your way between our East and West coasts. I'm sure I could find some interesting things for you to do here. :)
 
Neil did an excellent job explaining. Basically, removing a “side” Burl will leave a scar, similar to removing a limb, that may or may not heal well.

Removing a Burl that goes all of the way around the tree will kill the tree.

The larger the “side” burl relative to the size of the tree, the harder it is on the tree. Today, we have the means of assisting/protecting the tree as it heals from damage. We also have a better understanding of how trees heal relative to cuts (mostly on limb removal). Would have to dig but either Purdue or the US Forrestry service has a couple of good write-ups on it.
 
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