Tree Guy Dropped of Some Burl

[Paul Heely]

My tree guy dropped of what looks to be a nice load of Cherry burl. Tree came down yesterday, hoping to have them all processed and sealed this weekend. Have next week off from work and hope to have most of them turned into hollow forms and maybe a rouged out bowl or two.

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[Dueane Hicks]

Nice haul of burl!

[Brian Tymchak]

Wow, nice! ..wish I had a "tree guy"..

[David Delo]

Now I know what's meant by the phrase "wood porn."

[Paul Heely]

Now I know what's meant by the phrase "wood porn."

I know know what ouch my aching back also means... Cut up the two large trunk sections. As I feared most of the burls were full of ants. The smaller pieces seem to be much more solid and I expect to get some more good material from them. I did however manage to get a few good size burls from the main truck even after disposing off all the ant filled wood. The largest burl should yield a hollow form about 12" diameter x 8" high, so a pretty substantial piece. Since I pay for my wood, the more pieces I can get out of it to sell, the happier I am. My aching back comes from having a shop in my basement. Normally I only cut up 1-2 pieces at a time, just what i can turn, but this load was in the way and I had to get it move before the landscapers show up on Monday. I got a about another 10 large pieces from the same trunks that will make nice hollow forms, just not fancy burl. Either wood is getting heavier, or I'm getting a bit older.....

I did try turning a smaller piece with some voids in it. The top of the hollow form failed when taking it to final thickness. While the piece is not something I would salvage, it has given me something to try carving on since I've started to get interested in carving, texturing, and coloring.

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[Alex Zeller]

I have lots of cherry burls, most are pretty small, growing on my property. The two that mother nature decided it was time had quite a bit of bark in the middle of the burl. Looks like you did well. It's real nice when the wood gets delivered to you.

[Paul Heely]

Since I don't own a truck, nor a trailer, I love having wood dropped off. My tree guy has acres of logs in his wood lot. He also produces firewood and mulch on the side. For most stuff I pay firewood prices; burls and things like walnut logs being a different story, and he delivers. What I like with our arrangement is I can go walk the wood lot and pick out the exact logs I want. My last load before the burl was a couple of cherry trunks 16"+, a maple trunk almost 30" at it's largest, and some honey locust, which I'm still fighting with to not crack when I rough turn bowls. May have to try some HFs with that stuff and see how it goes. I know a lot of folks have free wood sources, but I don't mind paying a bit. My logic is that a single large bowl or HF has to pay for the entire log.