I Got Burls! Now What?

[efgee88]

Hi All,
Been on holidays and hunted some burls freshly cut about 3 weeks ago from the in-law's farm. These are black box and yellow box in a few sizes as you can see. I immediately waxed the cut faces to stop cracking - well that was an idea at the time. Brought them home today, but what do I do now? Can I turn these soon or should I wait for a certain time to let them dry out? I'm dying to have a go at the smaller ones. Any advise appreciated - thanks.

Cheers, FrankG.

[RETIRED]

Unsporting I know.:D Ignore calls to take them to XYZ place to be looked after.:D

[John Saxton]

Unsporting I know. Ignore calls to take them to XYZ place to be looked after:2tsup:

wood broker:rolleyes:

Cheers:)

[tea lady]

Unsporting I know.:D Ignore calls to take them to XYZ place to be looked after.:D

You could bring 'em here and I'll try really hard to ignore them completely.:cool::D

[Mobil Man]

Do whatever 'turns' ya on.:D

[Ed Reiss]

You could bring 'em here and I'll try really hard to ignore them completely.:cool::D

I can ignore them better than TL:wink:

[robutacion]

Hi All,
Been on holidays and hunted some burls freshly cut about 3 weeks ago from the in-law's farm. These are black box and yellow box in a few sizes as you can see. I immediately waxed the cut faces to stop cracking - well that was an idea at the time. Brought them home today, but what do I do now? Can I turn these soon or should I wait for a certain time to let them dry out? I'm dying to have a go at the smaller ones. Any advise appreciated - thanks.

Cheers, FrankG.

Well FrankG., I would get them on the lathe chuck and turn them into something nice. A couple coats of timber stabilizer, as soon you turn them, wait a few weeks and the finish then the way you want. I've lost too many pieces by waiting for the wood to dry perfectly, sometimes they dry so perfect that can't be used for anything but firewood...! :((

Do you know that old saying..."don't wait for tomorrow, if you can do it today...!"

Good luck & take some pics of the results, please

Cheers:2tsup:
RBTCO

[efgee88]

Well FrankG., I would get them on the lathe chuck and turn them into something nice. A couple coats of timber stabilizer, as soon you turn them, wait a few weeks and the finish then the way you want. I've lost too many pieces by waiting for the wood to dry perfectly, sometimes they dry so perfect that can't be used for anything but firewood...! :((

Do you know that old saying..."don't wait for tomorrow, if you can do it today...!)

Good luck & take some pics of the results, please

Cheers:2tsup:
RBTCO
Thanks RBTCO, The yellow box burl has some fairly loose grain and I was thinking about drowning a rough turning of this in fiberglass resin to stabilise it. What do you use as stabiliser? The other burls seem to have a very tight grain, so I hope not to have any problems with them.
I'll take some pics as I go.
Cheers FrankG.

[tea lady]

Well FrankG., I would get them on the lathe chuck and turn them into something nice. A couple coats of timber stabilizer, as soon you turn them, wait a few weeks and the finish then the way you want. I've lost too many pieces by waiting for the wood to dry perfectly, sometimes they dry so perfect that can't be used for anything but firewood...! :((

Do you know that old saying..."don't wait for tomorrow, if you can do it today...!)

Good luck & take some pics of the results, please

Cheers:2tsup:
RBTCO
:oo: A useful reply.:rolleyes:

[Ed Reiss]

Thanks RBTCO, The yellow box burl has some fairly loose grain and I was thinking about drowning a rough turning of this in fiberglass resin to stabilise it. What do you use as stabiliser? The other burls seem to have a very tight grain, so I hope not to have any problems with them.
I'll take some pics as I go.
Cheers FrankG.

NO, NO, NO ......do not immerse them in fiberglass resin, no good will come by doing that! They will never dry encased in resin. What your looking for is a wax emulsion to coat them with, Anchorseal is one brand. This will allow the moisture to slowly escape from the wood without a lot of checking (cracks) and extreme warping. Conventional thinking is one year per inch of thickness for air drying...this varies from species to species.

[robutacion]

Thanks RBTCO, The yellow box burl has some fairly loose grain and I was thinking about drowning a rough turning of this in fiberglass resin to stabilise it. What do you use as stabiliser? The other burls seem to have a very tight grain, so I hope not to have any problems with them.
I'll take some pics as I go.
Cheers FrankG.

Hi FrankG.
I use Fungishield from Feast Watson, to stabilise timbers immediately after being rough turned (2 x coats one per day).
With the loose grain on the yellow box, I would try to "harden" the loose grain with either CA (super glue) if only in some areas, If the whole rough turned piece is soft grain, I would soak it in sanding sealer (the first coat diluted at 50%, the second at least 8 hours later, diluted at 40%, and a third coat, at about 25%.) The first coat, is the most important, as it will be the only one that will be able to completely go trough the timber. To make sure the timber is saturated (soaked), I normally pour the mix solution into the "concave" part of the piece if it has one, such as a bowl, etc., if you have enough, fill it right up and watch the timber soaking in. Using a small painting brush, wait until the sealer comes through, and then, spread the sealer evenly all over the exterior surface. If the piece is too big or you don't have enough to fill the "concave" surface, pour whatever you got, and turn the piece on its side, until the liquid reaches the outer "lip", then rotate the piece slowly, allowing the sealer to soak through, before you rotate to the next position. You find that, if the grain is really loose, this will not take long to do.

Just be careful if the piece has too many loose spots, keep the lathe at low speeds, less chances for the piece to disintegrate while spinning.

Good luck!

Cheers:2tsup:
RBTCO

[efgee88]

Thanks Ed, Thanks RBTC.
I'll do what you suggest with the loose grain in the yellow box burl.
I've started turning one of the small denser burls as an experiment and it will give me an idea how wet it is inside. There is a thick layer of bark and softish pith(?) on the outer layers before getting to some solid timber. I presume one normally removes these outer layers completely? It looks like I'll be left with less than 2/3s the size of the original burl by the time I finish roughing.
Cheers,
FrankG.

[rsser]

Generally I've found burls to be pretty stable and don't bother sealing them; that's if they've got burl figure right the way through the lump. I guess the interlocked grain accounts for the stability.

You can as with plain blanks green turn them thick and let them sit til dry before finish turning. You can green turn to finish and prob find some move to an oval shape and an attractive dimpling effect on the surface (eg. with Red Mallee Burl).