Seal burl?

[Daniel Warren]

Acquired some walnut burl. I don't when I'll get to turning it. Seal it up or let it be as-is? I will likely tarp it after this big rain, in the meantime I'm hoping some dirt will wash away.

 

[Bill Blasic]

I have never sealed any of my burl as normally the interlocking grain doesn't seem to move much if any. The only cracking of burl I have run into is cherry burl and those cracks were in the uncut burl.

 

[George Kuipers]

To be safe, seal it.

 

[brian horais]

Acquired some walnut burl. I don't when I'll get to turning it. Seal it up or let it be as-is? I will likely tarp it after this big rain, in the meantime I'm hoping some dirt will wash away.

Daniel, I sealed all of my burl cutoffs within a few hours after separating them from the main burl. Here are the before and after images. I use Anchorseal on all of the cut surfaces.
[the images of burl cutoffs on the cart were before I applied the Anchorseal...]

 

[Don Wattenhofer]

Judging by the photos it looks more like a root, which is still likely to yield some incredible grain.
I would get a pressure washer and clean off as much dirt as you can then store it in a well ventilated area out of the sun and rain without a tarp. You may want to use Anchor Seal on the fresh cut areas to slow down the release of moisture.
A few years ago I acquired 2 large walnut stumps that had been removed from a construction site in MPLS metro area then stored away in an old barn about 40 years ago. The wood although checked on the outside was mostly sound except for the sap wood.
This lamp was made from some of the stump wood that had checks and I used powdered turquois to infill.

 

[Richard Coers]

I see more evidence of punky wood than I do burl. I stopped harvesting stumps when I hit an ingrown brick in a walnut stump with my chainsaw.

 

[Daniel Warren]

I have never sealed any of my burl as normally the interlocking grain doesn't seem to move much if any. The only cracking of burl I have run into is cherry burl and those cracks were in the uncut burl.

Thanks Bill. I recently processed a large walnut burl that I was given and it had been sitting around for years. I do not believe it was ever sealed. See attached photo.

To be safe, seal it.

I feel like I should too.

Daniel, I sealed all of my burl cutoffs within a few hours after separating them from the main burl. Here are the before and after images. I use Anchorseal on all of the cut surfaces.
[the images of burl cutoffs on the cart were before I applied the Anchorseal...]

I use nothing but Anchorseal as well.

Judging by the photos it looks more like a root, which is still likely to yield some incredible grain.
I would get a pressure washer and clean off as much dirt as you can then store it in a well ventilated area out of the sun and rain without a tarp. You may want to use Anchor Seal on the fresh cut areas to slow down the release of moisture.
A few years ago I acquired 2 large walnut stumps that had been removed from a construction site in MPLS metro area then stored away in an old barn about 40 years ago. The wood although checked on the outside was mostly sound except for the sap wood.
View attachment 41754 This lamp was made from some of the stump wood that had checks and I used powdered turquois to infill.

I think you're right Don, much of it is root, however there was a portion that looked like burl (see attached photo). I will be pressure washing tomorrow. I am unable to store inside at the moment due to storage constraints but I may be able to get it under a covered exterior area for the time being.

Thanks everyone for your input.

 

[JeffSmith]

Several years ago - while on my way home from picking up the last lathe I'll ever buy, an old friend suggested I stop at his friends place. He deals in walnut in northern Calif. I left with a gift they loaded into the trailer of a large walnut root and graft burl that had been sitting in their yard unprotected for about a decade. About 1/3 had been cut away at some point. It was old, gnarly and cracked in places. When I got it home, I started slicing it into blanks.

The cracks seldom went more than a couple of inches below the surface. The root burl portion - below the graft was very nice, turned well and resulted in a 25" platter/bowl (needed to get the largest I could turn between centers out of the way), a bunch of smaller platters and bowls from 14" thru about 10" in diameter.
The large platter was more experiment than project and it hovered around the shop for years because I wasn't really happy with the shape - looked like a conquistador's helmet. So it sat on a shelf for almost 9 years until I stuck it back on the lathe, trued it up then used as an excuse to carve a little on the rim.

Long way around telling you it may not be necessary to do much with your piece - I've found most walnut I've had to be resilient to poor treatment.