• Beware of Counterfeit Woodturning Tools (click here for details)
  • Johnathan Silwones is starting a new AAW chapter, Southern Alleghenies Woodturners, in Johnstown, PA. (click here for details)
  • Congratulations to Paul May for "Checkerboard (ver 3.0)" being selected as Turning of the Week for March 25, 2024 (click here for details)
  • Welcome new registering member. Your username must be your real First and Last name (for example: John Doe). "Screen names" and "handles" are not allowed and your registration will be deleted if you don't use your real name. Also, do not use all caps nor all lower case.

Got a few burls

Joined
Jan 7, 2017
Messages
24
Likes
6
Location
Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania
FDFBE250-215C-4E0F-A15D-D45B13E3783F.jpeg

Pays to have a friend who owns a tree service. Anyway my question is. Normally he gets me cherry burls. There are a few there. But this time there are some oak, maple too. Which wood normally has the most burls.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Joined
Feb 8, 2014
Messages
1,173
Likes
611
Location
Evanston, IL USA
I used to get a lot of burls from the Amish mills in WI. Many of those were cherry, but I always thought it depends more on the predominant species in the area and what they were cutting.
 
Joined
Apr 19, 2018
Messages
84
Likes
88
Location
Chapel Hill, NC
I've got an eye on a big oak tree in a neighbor's yard right across the street from me that has 10 - 12 burls plainly visible from the ground. I keep thinking that one of our big storms will take it down, but no luck so far. I've got the chainsaw ready to go to help clean it up after a few small surgical procedures.
 
Joined
Jul 19, 2018
Messages
1,686
Likes
2,077
Location
Ponsford, MN
I've got an eye on a big oak tree in a neighbor's yard right across the street from me that has 10 - 12 burls plainly visible from the ground. I keep thinking that one of our big storms will take it down, but no luck so far. I've got the chainsaw ready to go to help clean it up after a few small surgical procedures.
I have gotten small white oak burls out of the woods near me but they usually have many bark inclusions. There was one time I got a white oak burl from a neighbor that was more of a layered or onion skin type that was extremely hard. The burl sitting on a flat bed trailer measured about 5 feet around and was about 4 feet high. the platter is just one of many pieces that I got from that one burl.7008Platter.JPG
 

Bill Boehme

Administrator
Staff member
Beta Tester
TOTW Team
Joined
Jan 27, 2005
Messages
12,886
Likes
5,169
Location
Dalworthington Gardens, TX
Website
pbase.com
I have gotten small white oak burls out of the woods near me but they usually have many bark inclusions. There was one time I got a white oak burl from a neighbor that was more of a layered or onion skin type that was extremely hard. The burl sitting on a flat bed trailer measured about 5 feet around and was about 4 feet high. the platter is just one of many pieces that I got from that one burl.View attachment 28441

That's incredible.
 
Joined
Feb 12, 2018
Messages
411
Likes
249
Location
Millington, TN
Here’s a tree across from the house I’m doing right now. Never seen so many burls on a tree.

Burl trees are pretty rare in this area too, but here's a pic of one in TN. Luckily this maple tree is on family property waiting on me to process some day.


Red Maple tree about 35' to 40' tall that's burled from the ground up:
2016-09-05_11-09-02_441.jpg

Closeup of the bark showing the tree's abnormal twig/bud growth associated with some types of burls:
2016-09-04_19-04-14_822_small.jpg
 

Attachments

  • 2016-09-05_11-12-08_562.jpg
    2016-09-05_11-12-08_562.jpg
    402.7 KB · Views: 24
Last edited:

Bill Boehme

Administrator
Staff member
Beta Tester
TOTW Team
Joined
Jan 27, 2005
Messages
12,886
Likes
5,169
Location
Dalworthington Gardens, TX
Website
pbase.com
Here’s a tree across from the house I’m doing right now. Never seen so many burls on a tree.

Maybe you could tell your neighbor that the tree is seriously afflicted by uglyosis and needs to come down immediately before ugly spreads to other nearby trees. Generously offer to help haul off the wood. :D
 
Joined
Jan 7, 2017
Messages
24
Likes
6
Location
Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania
Yea in PA we get a lot of snow. Easily got 2-3 feet this year.
They were frozen a bit. My buddy cuts them down for me all the time. He also has a sawmill on his property. So he cuts up lumber for me for free constantly. He is paid to remove the wood. And I let him use my lathes so we have a good arrangement
 
Joined
Feb 12, 2018
Messages
411
Likes
249
Location
Millington, TN
Sam,

That's a nice bowl, but it would appear a lot of the burl got turned into shavings based on the two pics. Use all these burls as a good excuse to buy yourself a coring system if you don't already own one and your lathe is big enough. Or ask someone in a local turning club to do the work for a share of the cored blanks.

If you're interested in coring then try this link for more details: http://www.aawforum.org/community/index.php?threads/bowlsavers-or-bowl-coring-systems.8555/
 
Back
Top