# Burl Question



## cotedupy (Sep 30, 2020)

Hello!

As I understand it from Google, this thing that I've just sawn off a firewood log that I found at my friend's house is a burl. He thinks it's an Australian hardwood called Sheoak.

Anything in particular I should know about working with burl? Should I just take all the bark off and go from there as I would with any kind of wood? Any advice gratefully received...

p.s. I've not done anything like this before, so do correct me if it's not a burl!

p.p.s. I do _*not*_ advise trying to saw through Sheoak with a hand saw.


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## Bensbites (Sep 30, 2020)

Because the grain to irregular you should stabilize it.
I would seal the cut end now with wax, glue, or old paint to prevent cracking while it dry
Use out.


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## cotedupy (Sep 30, 2020)

Bensbites said:


> Because the grain to irregular you should stabilize it.
> I would seal the cut end now with wax, glue, or old paint to prevent cracking while it dry
> Use out.



Thank you! Would some mineral oil all over be a good idea, or just wax? And can I stabilize wood without a vacuum? Sorry for all the questions!


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## Matus (Sep 30, 2020)

Once dry, cut it in blocks and if there are some worth the effort, than have it professionally stabilized. You want vacuum AND high pressure to get the best results. Home made stuff is usually far from perfect.


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## juice (Sep 30, 2020)

Bensbites said:


> Because the grain to irregular you should stabilize it.


This. I was listening to a podcast literally just a couple of hours ago where they talked about this very thing.


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## Dhoff (Sep 30, 2020)

Matus said:


> Once dry, cut it in blocks and if there are some worth the effort, than have it professionally stabilized. You want vacuum AND high pressure to get the best results. Home made stuff is usually far from perfect.



How to dry such a block in a way where it does not crack?


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## Matus (Sep 30, 2020)

Dhoff said:


> How to dry such a block in a way where it does not crack?



I don’t have this kind of knowledge/experience


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## Bensbites (Sep 30, 2020)

Dhoff said:


> How to dry such a block in a way where it does not crack?



let it sit until it hits a certain moisture, I don’t know what that is. Then place it in a low temp oven 200 F, until constant weight.


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## GoodMagic (Sep 30, 2020)

Use a product made to prevent end checks, like anchorseal. Don’t use either mineral oil or pure wax. Sheoak is very dense And hard to cut. I would seal it until you have a plan, then cut it, then send out to have professionally stabilized.I would let it dry naturally after sealed, unless you have a kiln for drying wood.


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## cotedupy (Sep 30, 2020)

GoodMagic said:


> Sheoak is very dense And hard to cut.



Ha... tell me about it!

Thanks for all the tips here everybody. I think the wood is relatively well seasoned, my friend bought it as firewood rather than just felling a tree, and when we get firewood it does come seasoned. 

I don't have the equipment to measure moisture content unfortunately, but the bark came away very easily, and when cut away from the main log it didn't feel cold to the touch which I usually get with green wood. I'm going to experiment with some of it, and probably keep about half to dry fully and then maybe stabilize.

This is what it looks like having cut a small bit off:


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## Slim278 (Oct 1, 2020)

I have been told, a good rule of thumb to follow is allow wood to dry 1 year per inch of thickness to fully dry.


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## pkjames (Oct 5, 2020)

the effort to get this small burl into a workable state is probably too much and the figure is less than ideal. Maybe consider just buying a stabilized one?


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## cotedupy (Oct 5, 2020)

pkjames said:


> the effort to get this small burl into a workable state is probably too much and the figure is less than ideal. Maybe consider just buying a stabilized one?



I feel that would be rather defeatist of me! I made a couple of things from it so far... Playing around with a Sheoak Burl (WIP)


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## billyO (Oct 6, 2020)

That handle does look good, hopefully it's dry enough soas not to crack anymore. 
IMO, the thing to always keep in mind when working with wood is to remember that it's an organic material that has the ability to absorb mosture, and can, _*and will* _move over time as the ambient humidity changes. Stabilizing, sealing, waxing, oiling all slow this down and mitigate this to varying extent, but it's almost impossible to eliminate it completely. 
One thing that can help show how dry the piece is is to put a piece in a ziplock bag and microwave on high for a minute or two. If the wood is still wet, there will be moisture in the ziplock bag. If it's dry, the bag will remain dry. You can burn the wood, so pay attention. The burning can start on the inside of the piece and show up when cutting into it. Make sure there are no nails, staples of any ther metal buried in the wood or you'll have a neat light display in the microwave


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## 29palms (Oct 13, 2020)

What you have looks like what we call a "bunion", or "nurl". They grow on the trunk where true burl is a mechanism of the root system. You have to treat it like crotch where the grain goes in several directions at once. Slow and steady drying, or they can explode if pushed.


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## cotedupy (Oct 13, 2020)

29palms said:


> What you have looks like what we call a "bunion", or "nurl". They grow on the trunk where true burl is a mechanism of the root system. You have to treat it like crotch where the grain goes in several directions at once. Slow and steady drying, or they can explode if pushed.



Ah interesting, thanks for the info. Yeah this was definitely on the trunk, rather than on a root. And while it's quite striking looking it doesn't really have much of the swirly patterns of the wood burls you see sold online.

The good news is that this was already pretty well dried I think. And I was speaking to someone the other day who knows about this kind of thing, and said that because of the grain and density of Sheoak it probably didn't really need stabilizing.


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## cotedupy (Oct 13, 2020)

billyO said:


> That handle does look good, hopefully it's dry enough soas not to crack anymore.
> IMO, the thing to always keep in mind when working with wood is to remember that it's an organic material that has the ability to absorb mosture, and can, _*and will* _move over time as the ambient humidity changes. Stabilizing, sealing, waxing, oiling all slow this down and mitigate this to varying extent, but it's almost impossible to eliminate it completely.
> One thing that can help show how dry the piece is is to put a piece in a ziplock bag and microwave on high for a minute or two. If the wood is still wet, there will be moisture in the ziplock bag. If it's dry, the bag will remain dry. You can burn the wood, so pay attention. The burning can start on the inside of the piece and show up when cutting into it. Make sure there are no nails, staples of any ther metal buried in the wood or you'll have a neat light display in the microwave



Cheers for this tip, will remember that for the future!


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## driver (Oct 14, 2020)

There is a great way to dry any wood.
You need to take a concentrated solution of table salt, sea water is even better.
Cut the wood into pieces, pour over the solution and boil in a pan.
It is better to take the pan in Va;lue Village, since then it is difficult to clean it.
You need to cook for 10-12 hours, then spread out pieces of wood and dry for about a week.


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## cotedupy (Oct 14, 2020)

driver said:


> There is a great way to dry any wood.
> You need to take a concentrated solution of table salt, sea water is even better.
> Cut the wood into pieces, pour over the solution and boil in a pan.
> It is better to take the pan in Va;lue Village, since then it is difficult to clean it.
> You need to cook for 10-12 hours, then spread out pieces of wood and dry for about a week.



Interesting. I'd never heard of this before, cheers!

And the beach starts about 20 metres away from my living room, so pretty easy


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