Sealing a Madrone and Maple Burl Cap

[Ron Kaplan]

I just received two Burl Caps. One is Madrone, which I know is very unstable. The other is a Maple cap. Both are still very wet. I have used Anchorseal on all of the cut surfaces of both burls. Should I also coat the outside surface of the burls? It seams like that would be a huge pain and a big mess. For right now I have them in plastic trash bags until I figure out what I am going to do with them. Any help out there?

Ron

[Jim Adkins]

Ron....I have a son that lives in Bay area and he turns a lot of Madrone. He roughs-out the shape leaving the wall somewhat thick. He then boils the form for 6-8 hrs, lets it cool down then places them in a plastic bag. They move a lot during drying hence the thicker wall for later final turning. hope this helps.
Jim

[Reed Gray]

If you try to seal and let the madrone dry, you will find it honey combed. Boiling is one method: bring to boil in the water, boil for 1 hour per inch of thickness, let it come back to room temp in the water, then remove and seal. You can also thin turn it, 1/8 to 3/16 thick, and watch it warp. Extremely 3 dimensional, and impossible to sand without losing the character of the piece. They will sell fairly well for me. Strangely, Madrone outsells Myrtle for me around here, and other places I go for shows.

robo hippy